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Posted: April 26, 2012
Health insurers that haven't spent the required share of premiums on health care will be sending rebate checks to employers and consumers. All told, an estimated $1.3 billion is expected to be returned to customers this summer.
Come summer, mailboxes of 1 in 3 buyers of individual health insurance buyers could get rebate checks. JS Callahan/tropicalpix
If you buy your own health insurance, there's nearly a 1 in 3 chance that come this summer you'll get a nice little surprise in the mail: money back from your health insurance company.
At least that's the prediction from an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The checks are rebates. And they're the result of a provision of the 2010 Affordable Care Act (assuming it doesn't get struck down before then by the Supreme Court).
It's called the medical loss ratio." In English, that means health insurers have to spend either 80 or 85 cents of each dollar they collect in premiums on actual medical care. That leaves, at most, 15 or 20 cents for administrative costs, marketing and profit.
Plans that fail to meet that standard have to return the excess to policyholders by August of the following year. The MLR rules first went into effect for calendar 2011, so the first rebates are due this summer.
When the Department of Health and Human Services issued rules for all this last November, it predicted that rebates would amount to as much as $1.4 billion. Not a bad estimate.
The Kaiser analysis, based on preliminary data from the insurance companies themselves, estimates total rebates to be around $1.3 billion. A separate survey by Goldman Sachs, reported by Bloomberg News, pegged the total at $1.2 billion.
According to Kaiser, 3.4 million people in the individual market are expected to get a rebate check, which will average $127 each. That's about 31 percent of all people who purchase their own policies. Consumers in Texas, Oklahoma, and South Carolina are most likely to get rebates.
In the small group market, about $377 million in rebates are expected to go out covering just under five million enrollees, or about 28 percent of that market. Those rebates are projected to average $76 per enrollee.
The large group market includes the smallest percentage of enrollees who can expect to share in the rebate rush — just 19 percent. But because most people are in large group plans, they account for the most money that will be rebated to the most enrollees. An estimated $541 million covering 7.5 million people. Rebates will go to the employers that purchase the policies, but they're to share them with workers. They should average $72 per enrollee.
Analysts for both the Kaiser Family Foundation (which is not affiliated with the insurance plan Kaiser Permanente) and Goldman Sachs said one reason the rebates are a bit smaller than originally projected is that insurers held down premiums to make sure they didn't have to refund money. That, of course, was the intent of the including the provision in the law in the first place.
Still, insurance industry consultant Robert Laszewski isn't impressed. "Does a $200 rebate on a $13,000 premium make health insurance any more affordable?" he asked in a blog post.
And it didn't stop Republicans from using the news to hammer on the fact that premiums have continued to climb in spite of then-candidate Obama's vow to reduce them by as much as $2,500. Obama campaign chief David Axelrod tweeted the news of the rebates earlier today with a link to a report from The Wall Street Journal no less. And the Republican National Committee tweeted in response: "Obama promised $2,500 premium savings, just another broken promise?"
Shots - Health News
Please follow our community discussion rules when composing your comments. | <urn:uuid:05dcd616-1611-475d-98aa-5e0fb677eca1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ideastream.org/news/npr/151461360 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95988 | 798 | 1.671875 | 2 |
September 23, 2008
“As soon as our food leaves our factory, it is no longer our responsibility.”
Which sounds eerily similar to Purina’s response to the mitey Beneful found in VA:
“We’re slightly puzzled, but infestation in grain based foods can happen anytime after our products leave our manufacturing facility.”
Gross-out alert. Shoot, I should have put that at the beginning huh?
September 21, 2008
How does this image grab you? An open dump truck pulls in to the back dock of your local grocery store. Workers toss in spoiled, stinking meat and trimmings that have been collected from the meat department because they are “inedible” for humans. The dump truck drives around southern Florida under the summer sun, flies buzzing at their leisure while the driver takes a coffee break before heading to the next pickup location. More rotten meat is tossed onto the truck, and more Florida sun beats down upon the stinking pile.
Cut to: You in your kitchen, pouring your pet’s food from a bag with photos on it of delicious looking cuts of fresh meat. But where did the meat used to make that pet food actually come from? Yeppers, the dump truck. How do I know?
I came across this story over the weekend when the dump truck overturned and spilled the rotten meat onto the road:
It took hours for Collier County officials and Golden Gate firefighters to clean up the meat, hose down the road and brush the pavement with detergent.
[Note to self: see if they're hiring.]
“The smell was real bad,” Golden Gate fire Lt. John Handley said. “And it made a hazard because the oils in the meat seeped into the road and made it slick.”
“This is grocery store trimmings,” said Charlie Largay, president of the Miami-based Tallowmasters LLC, the owner of the overturned dump truck. “The material that is out of date or is trimmed off … is just not thrown away into a dump. It’s recycled. It’s a high-protein product and it goes right back into animal feeds.”
“After it’s processed it comes out looking like cinnamon and it smells like dry dog food,” he said. “We sell it to the pet manufacturers for their dog food.”
The article goes on to try and determine exactly who is responsible for overseeing what in the pet food industry but after getting the runaround, comes up with no definitive answers. Sound familiar? Read the complete article here.
September 21, 2008
For many consumers, pet food company transparency is key to earning trust in their products. Pet owners want honest answers to direct questions – not the runaround “We can’t tell you, that’s proprietary info” which companies used to get away with prior to the 2007 recalls. Despite this, and in response to a mounting body of complaint evidence against their foods, Nutro’s mantra seems to be: deny, deny, deny.
Here’s an overview of Nutro complaints and responses:
A July 2007 story about an owner who requested vet bill reimbursement from Nutro after her dog (who was fed Nutro) died. Nutro denied the claim.
ConsumerAffairs.com wondered if there is any link between reports of sick/dead pets who ate Nutro foods and the foods themselves in a series of articles starting April 18, 2008, with updates on June 23 and August 6, 2008. In addition, the site has been collecting ongoing consumer experiences with Nutro foods, many of which describe pets who became ill while eating Nutro products but recovered after the owner switched to a different brand.
On August 14, 2008 Pet Food Products Safety Alliance (PFPSA) posted an update detailing independent lab test results they received on Nutro foods which reveal excess copper and zinc.
Their lab results are available in pdf here and here.
Nutro has responded to Consumer Affairs postings of pet illness/death and PFPSA’s test results on their website. They basically state that all the food is fine, never has been a problem and they have lab test results to prove it. Notably absent: the lab test results which prove it. Hmm.
PFPSA responds to Nutro’s website posting and asks concerned pet owners to compare the complaints posted at Consumer Affairs with the symptoms of zinc toxicity and decide if they are consistent.
As pet owners, all of us need to form our own opinions based on the facts as we can obtain them. It’s challenging enough to filter out possible bias on both sides so I for one am grateful to PFSPA for posting their independent lab test results. This gives me something solid to examine which I can consider to be at least somewhat free of bias. Nutro, if you have independent lab test results which document that your foods do not contain excess copper and zinc, I know many of us would love to see them. Got a scanner?
September 16, 2008
Recommended reading from around the Wide World of Web:
Smart Dogs evaluates the evaluators when it comes to testing rescue dogs with resource guarding issues:
The testers waited until the dog was busy eating the food, then began to poke annoyingly at its face with a fake hand on a stick.
This is a good piece – read the full post here.
Terrierman offers a hunter’s perspective on why Sarah Palin’s promotion of wolf killing in Alaska has nothing to do with hunting.
As I mentioned a few days ago, Purina Beneful dog foods were pulled from the shelves at a VA store due to grain mite contamination. Yesterday, Asbury Park Press had a Q & A feature with a Vet who offers an opinion on how dog food might become contaminated with grain mites:
For the grain mites to be so numerous, it makes me wonder how old the pet food you purchased was. I also wonder about the hygiene at the point of manufacture and the quality of the ingredients that could have come from heaven knows where, giving you even more reason to purchase ingredients yourself and make your own dog food.
A Daily Kos diary talks about people dumping an increased number of pets at the side of rural roads in Appalachia during the economic slide.
This article explains how a dysplastic Golden Retriever was treated with an injection of his own stem cells and the hope this treatment may offer other animals.
September 14, 2008
September 13, 2008
Mars Petcare US is (again) recalling food due to Salmonella concerns. Affected brands include Pedigree, Ol’ Roy, and Pet Pride. I guess we’re supposed to be thankful that they told us about the Salmonella at all, even if it was on a Friday night, during a hurricane, and the problem has been going on for some time already.
Purina Beneful dog food has been pulled from the shelves of a pet supply store in Virginia due to contamination with grain mites. Predictably, Purina is trying to plant the idea that the infestation occurred after the food left their facility. It’s the same old pet food corporation song and dance: deny first, discover truth later (or never, as the case may be). Hey Purina: give the American consumer a little credit here. We can comprehend that a problem like grain mites might occur with a grain based pet food product, that a company can deal with it responsibly and that future products can be deemed safe. What really pisses us off is when companies immediately respond to any and every question with We know nuffing. Again.
And in the oldie but goodie department, we have the Chinese adulterating food with melamine in order to try and boost profits (again). Unlike last year, when melamine tainted ingredients from China killed and sickened thousands of pets, the victims this time are infants and the tainted food is baby formula. Nice.
September 9, 2008
The website Pet Food Recall Facts is putting out a call for unopened canned/pouches of old pet food for testing:
If any pet owners have unopened samples of pet food manufactured prior to the end of December 2006, and would be willing to make them available for testing, please contact me. The samples I’m interested in would be store brands with expiration dates of “09” for canned food and “08” for pouches. I’m interested in the “loaf” style of pet food that does not list gluten as an ingredient. If anyone has such samples available for testing, I would most sincerely appreciate your making them available. Personal information of those making samples available will be held in the strictest confidence.
If you are interested in helping or learning more, visit their website.
September 5, 2008
The AKC alerts us to a proposed pet ordinance in Michigan – HB 6395 – that sounds a leetle scary:
If adopted, HB 6395 would:
Define anyone who sells or offers for sale more than two dogs per year, or more than one litter of dogs per year, as a “petseller.”
Mandate that those who qualify as pet sellers to acquire an annual petseller license from their county animal control shelter at a cost of $200/year.
Require an applicant for a pet seller license to submit his or her fingerprints with a license application for a criminal history and FBI background check.
Give discretion to county animal control shelters to deny applications for pet seller licenses, regardless of outcome of background investigation.
If you are a Michigan resident, get your Representative’s contact info and call/snail mail/fax a letter indicating your opposition to this bill. | <urn:uuid:514babf4-caf6-4996-b8b9-f7967f34320b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://yesbiscuit.wordpress.com/2008/09/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958873 | 2,048 | 1.835938 | 2 |
By Jason Lange
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. companies added jobs in October at the fastest pace in eight months, a sign of modest healing in the labor market just days before a presidential election that could hinge on the economy.
Other data on Thursday showed a drop in new claims for jobless benefits, a sharp improvement in consumer confidence, while there were mixed signals regarding the health of U.S. manufacturing.
Private employers added 158,000 workers last month, the biggest gain since February, payrolls processor Automatic Data Processing said.
"There is some evidence of labor market improvement," said David Sloan, an economist at 4Cast in New York. "It is not totally convincing yet but overall the message is positive."
The data added to a string of better news on the health of the economy. Consumers have been spending more freely while home construction is picking up.
Still, Europe's debt crisis looms over the U.S. recovery, as does the possibility of sharp tax hikes and government spending cuts that are due in January.
Indeed, the ADP reading did not change the view that the U.S. labor market still faces a long road back to health. And it was unclear whether it augured a big increase in the government's more comprehensive jobs report due on Friday.
The ADP report was the first with a newly expanded survey of businesses. "We're just going to have to learn over the coming months how accurate this new survey is," said Nigel Gault, an economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts.
Friday's jobs report from the U.S. Labor Department is expected to show non-farm employers added just 125,000 jobs last month - not enough to prevent the jobless rate from rising a tenth of a point to 7.9 percent.
The unemployment rate fell to a near four-year low in September, but remains well above pre-recession levels.
The lack of jobs for millions of Americans has been at the center of the presidential election campaign. President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are tied in polls ahead of Tuesday's election.
Investors bet Thursday's data pointed to stronger economic growth, and U.S. stock prices rose while prices for U.S. government debt slipped.
However, the numbers also pointed to a split that appears to be taking hold in the U.S. economy, with households spending more on homes and consumer goods even as factories struggle and companies cut back on investment.
U.S. consumer confidence rose last month to its highest level since February 2008, the Conference Board said, while Commerce Department data pointed to solid gains in home construction.
"Consumers seem oblivious about possible tax increases," said Christopher Low, an economist at FTN Financial in New York.
In the factory sector, Europe's debt crisis and uncertainty over the direction of U.S. fiscal policy appear to be biting more.
One measure of U.S. manufacturing in October from financial information firm Markit showed the slowest pace of growth in more than three years, suggesting the sector is dragging on economic growth even though it is still expanding.
Another report from the Institute for Supply Management was more upbeat, showing the pace of growth in factory activity picked up modestly as new orders improved, though a measure of employment moved lower.
"Manufacturing in the U.S. is recovering but the pace is not enough to provide improvement to the job market," Joseph Trevisani, a strategist at Worldwide Markets in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.
Car purchases have also provided support for the economy, although the storm in the U.S. Northeast this week caused auto sales to fall short of expectations in October.
Small firms are also under pressure. Lending to small U.S. businesses plunged in September to the lowest level in 14 months, according to Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index.
In a sign that businesses may not be poised to ramp up hiring significantly, growth in U.S. nonfarm productivity held steady at a 1.9 percent annual rate in the third quarter, data from the Labor Department showed.
The report also showed unit labor costs, a measure of the labor costs for producing any given measure of output, fell 0.1 percent as growth in hourly pay braked sharply. It was the first decline since the fourth quarter of 2011.
While the outlook for job creation has been muted, there have been some signs employers are backing off on layoffs.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 363,000 last week, the Labor Department said.
Still, the number of planned layoffs by U.S. firms jumped 41.1 percent in October to the highest level in five months, according to consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. That increase included a round of layoffs planned by U.S. firms in Europe.
(Additional reporting by Leah Schnurr, Herb Lash, Richard Leong and Steven C. Johnson in New York; Editing by Neil Stempleman) | <urn:uuid:3cfac90e-6e58-4d2f-a1f8-c7696574d439> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://b93radio.com/news/articles/2012/nov/01/jobless-claims-fall-nj-dc-estimated-due-to-storm/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961412 | 1,035 | 1.5 | 2 |
The following is an edited transcript of the audio.
Is it possible to be repentant and forgiven for something without telling anyone you did it? Or is confession to another person a necessity?
Well, the short answer is that confession to another person is not an absolute necessity. If you were to have a lustful thought and then a heart attack, you wouldn't go to hell if you were born again.
I think a person who is asking this question may be operating under a kind of mechanical notion of the way repentance towards God and confession of our sins towards others works. And I would like to relieve that person of that mechanical notion.
But really more helpful might be to ask, What is the role of confession to other people? When should you do it, and why would that be helpful?
James 5:16 is the key text there: "Confess your sins to one another ... that you may be healed." So something really valuable happens when we confess our sins to one another.
If you sin against another, the Bible is pretty clear that you shouldn't first go to the altar, but first go and get it right with your brother before you go to the altar (Matthew 5:23-24). So confession is crucial at that point to another person.
But even there I don't want to say it's absolute, because my guess is that the thief on the cross had offended so many and hurt so many people when he became a Christian and he had no time to make any of it up. He went straight to heaven half an hour later, as Jesus said: "Today you will be with me in paradise."
So it is not an absolute necessity, but it is very healing for relationships.
We want two things to happen in repentance:
- We want the air cleared with us and God. So we say, "God, I've sinned. I'm sorry. Apply to me afresh the blood of Jesus," and we enjoy that fresh fellowship and forgiveness.
- And we want this horizontal relationship to be clean and clear and open, because so much pain comes into life, and even physical maladies come into life, when we are keeping our sins inside. "I kept my sin in and my bones wasted away" (Psalm 32:3).
So there is a healing that comes at the horizontal level as well as the vertical when we confess our sins to one another. | <urn:uuid:d474b450-d967-4155-97c1-d24734f0804a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/ask-pastor-john/do-i-have-to-confess-my-sin-to-another-person-in-order-to-be-forgiven | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979041 | 494 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Furnace filters are also basically priced in three stages: cheap, not-so-cheap and moderately expensive. The cheap filters are about $1 and you change them every month without fail. If you forget, they'll clog up fast. The not-so-cheap filters should be changed every three months or so.
As for the moderately expensive filters, the experts say they're the way to go. You don't have to change them as often as the not-so-cheap filter, and they block a lot more dust and dirt. You'll find in the long run, your furnace won't have to work as hard to heat the house.
Work. Oh, that four-letter word. The next tip involves work. Sorry. But it's still super-easy ...
No. 2: Install a door sweep
Once upon a time, the bottom of a dunce's door had about 1/16th of an inch of light shining through. The dunce, not to be confused with the writer of this article, decided he would do something about it.
In the dunce's basement was weather stripping for the bottom of a door. In more common vernacular, a door sweep. The dunce, however, let it sit there for about 15 years before he touched it. He thought it would be really hard to install. What a dunce.
He took the slim strip of plastic out of its paper container and went upstairs. He went to the front door and measured. He cut the strip the proper length, removed the backing to reveal the adhesive strip -- and stuck it to the bottom of the door. The act took about 30 seconds, and the bottom of the door suddenly didn't have expensive hot air whistling outside!
When the dunces' bride heard about this, she said: "You waited 15 years to do something so simple? Why?"
Whatever. OK, time to deliver our fifth and final tip ... one that will electrify you ...
No. 1: Install a programmable thermostat
This one basically involves a screwdriver. But it's still really easy to do, and the payoff can be huge.
According the federal government, you can save as much as 10 percent a year on your heating/cooling bills by turning back your thermostat while you're at work and/or asleep.
The simple way to do this is to install a battery-powered programmable thermostat. Just turn the power off to where your old dial thermostat is located, unhook it and install the new one. It's just a few wires off, a few wires on. Not a big deal all.
When the new one is online, you can program it to any temperature for any time of the day or week. Wintertime and you're at work? No need to heat an empty house. Back off a few degrees. Summertime and you're at the beach for the day? Have the temp go up automatically. No need to keep it cool if you're not there.
You can also use the manual override without affecting the rest of the daily or weekly program. The other person in the house, for example, might want it set on 68 instead of 63. She's sick of winter, and wants a break for a few hours! No problem. But since you bought it -- and installed it-- you reserve the right to hike it down to 59 the second her eyes shut for the evening.
It's only fair! | <urn:uuid:1e417599-61fe-431a-ba3c-9bb8a92bd043> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news4jax.com/health/new-years-resolutions/5-simple-ways-to-cut-your-energy-bills/-/7136188/4879252/-/item/1/-/6dlyca/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968635 | 721 | 1.648438 | 2 |
State Rep. Stephen F. Freind (R., Delaware) has won House approval of a potentially significant amendment to the bill that would enable Philadelphia to provide tax breaks for home owners in "gentrified" neighborhoods where property values and tax assessments have risen sharply. In doing so he has raised the possibility of linkage between that bill, if it becomes law, and a future cut in state funding for Philadelphia public schools.
The city's school district benefits substantially - $130 million in the current fiscal year - from a "bonus" program in state subsidies for public education. School districts that impose taxes at or above the median state level qualify for bonus subsidy payments. Philadelphia imposes school taxes below the state median but gets the bonus automatically under a provision in the subsidy law that, quite properly, recognizes that a large city with major poverty problems has special funding requirements for both municipal services and public schools. | <urn:uuid:a784578a-5cd4-4250-a3d9-081b44be7a8d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.philly.com/1986-11-24/news/26095067_1_tax-break-bill-school-taxes-tax-deferrals | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957947 | 179 | 1.609375 | 2 |
21st Century SHINE! Afterschool Arts Grant
September 4, 2012
Cleveland Heights, OH
Dr. Johnetta Wiley (Administrative CHHS Principal), Joseph Nohra (Mosaic Principal)—together with Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio—were recognized at the School Board meeting for their work in receiving an $850,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Education to ensure a smooth transition for incoming at-risk freshman.
21st Century funding, totaling $850,000 over five years, will support SHINE!, designed to ensure a smooth transition for incoming at-risk 9th grade students as they enter the seeming tumult of high school. Emphasizing arts enrichment to engage students, SHINE! will focus on the key areas of increased reading and math achievement, homework completion, youth development, and parent and family skill building and education .
Up to 50 incoming 9th grade students will be invited to be part of SHINE! at no cost to the student. Planned as a safe haven for homework, extra academic support, peer interaction, and the opportunity to develop strong bonds with adults and the high school community, SHINE! will operate three days after school from 3:30-6:30 PM (Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday) and Saturday morning from 9 a.m. to noon. The schedule is designed to leave two days after school free, with an understanding of the competing interests for students at the high school level.
During the first hour, students will break into small groups for homework completion, supported by teachers, aides, and volunteers. The second hour will include targeted English 9 and Algebra 1 interventions for students, where they again work in small groups based on their needs. Students will enjoy a hearty snack as they prepare for the arts enrichment programming. Arts programming will be student driven with the students determining which arts they want to be involved in. Students can choose between two arts programs each quarter with resident artists provided through partner Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio. Saturday programming will involve 1.5 hours of arts programming, lunch, and 1.5 hours of the youth development program Boys Council and Girls Circle. At the end of each arts cycle, students will mount an event for parents, staff, and invited community members to showcase their final work.
At the end of their 9th grade year, SHINE! students will reach their academic benchmarks in reading and math, successfully advance to 10th grade, report increased self-confidence and self-esteem, and strong bonds with their peers and with school staff. SHINE! students will be invited to continue as volunteers in 2013-14 with the new group of 9th graders.
For more information or to be considered for the program, contact:
Joe Nohra, Principal, Mosaic School | <urn:uuid:4f967099-c650-4740-94d6-a4333423298e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chuh.org/news/detail/2012/9/4/21st-century-shine-afterschool-arts-grant | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953213 | 566 | 1.703125 | 2 |
define "hotter than hell" - The inside of the dryer is hot when only 1 item or empty. The drum was "hotter then hell" as in I didn't want to leave my hand on it for more than a quick touch.
define "heat issues" - It is more like temperature issues. The gas and fire ignite, i can hear it come on, then go off. So, it is almost like there is a sensor not working properly as it comes on but fails to maintain the heat.
also, is this on the Automatic Dry setting or Timed Dry ? - I have tried both the predefined cycles and timed with highest temp with the same results.
Vent should be rigid metal. - All piping to outside is rigid.
Short lengths of flexible metal may be OK, if not crimped when moving the Dryer into place. - There is 1.5 ft. of flexible pipe in between dryer and wall.
NO plastic. - None
NO PVC - None
NO screws - None
Foil Duct Tape is OK.
With an empty load, Timed Dry, High Heat, the vent temperature should cycle somewhere between 135F and 160F
Ran with an empty load, heard gas fire up, temp coming out vent pipe reached 180F. Then heard gas go off and temp dropped steadily to 104. Did not come back on | <urn:uuid:f05b6293-089c-4347-9b1c-777ecf6bcc0e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://appliancejunk.com/forums/index.php?topic=4333.0;prev_next=prev | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953149 | 285 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Point of Sale
Grocery chains, drug stores and other food retailers in New York City may soon have to hide their tobacco products.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg – who recently attempted to halt large sugary drink consumption in the city – announced the proposition of another health law that could affect stores’ product displays.
Under the terms of the Tobacco Product Display Restriction bill, businesses that sell tobacco products like cigarettes would have to take them off store shelves and keep them in a place that is not visible to shoppers, except during purchase and restocking.
“Such displays suggest that smoking is a normal activity,” Bloomberg said, according to Washington Post. “And they invite young people to experiment with tobacco.”
Tobacco stores would be an exception to the ban.
If the bill passes, food sellers and other companies that carry tobacco items will have to determine the most effective way to store and sell them. Because these products will no longer be out in the open, some company managers may find it more difficult to effectively track and manage stock. Businesses may consider relying on an inventory management system and barcode scanners to insure products orders and sales are properly overseen.
The holidays are always a great time for retailers to roll out new products and show off their new point of sale systems because consumers are looking to continue their celebrations. St. Patrick’s Day is no different, and a recent survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF) revealed total spending for the holiday is expected to approach nearly $5 billion.
Retailers must ensure they have plenty of festive attire in stock with the survey showing the average person will spend nearly $35 on green clothing, decor and spirits. A well managed inventory system is the perfect tool to ensure everything is in stock to meet customer expectations.
“St. Patrick’s Day is the perfect reminder that spring is right around the corner, and given the type of winter many Americans have had, it’s safe to say consumers are ready to shake off their winter blues with a little green,” said Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the NRF. “Budget-conscious shoppers will look for promotions ahead of time hoping to kill two birds with one stone, shopping for Easter gifts while picking out shamrock-themed decorations.”
U.S. News & World Report noted holiday budgets will become a little bit larger, especially for consumers who are looking to enjoy themselves by indulging in a few cocktails or a nice meal. Businesses of all kinds must be prepared for the added sales potential created by St. Patrick’s Day.
The days of the traditional point of sale system are coming to an end, as both retailers and consumers are seeking more intelligent POS checkout technology. However, a recent article for Engineering and Technology magazine said any improvement will not come without the risk of a cyberattack.
Failing to protect innovative point of sale systems could lead to compromised credit, debit and gift cards, creating unhappy customers, which is exactly what happened to Subway from 2008-2011 when it implemented its new point of sale system, said the magazine.
“Retail cybercrime is the crime of the future,” Dave Marcus, director of security and communications at McAfee, told the magazine. “Instead of coming in with guns and robbing the till, criminals can target businesses, root them from across the planet, and steal digitally.”
Combating cybercrime isn’t easy for today’s retailers, but a report from Deloitte talked about how developing a threat intelligence plan could help the company defend against hacking incidents that have yet to happen. The report recommends that IT staff and senior board members must work together on the creation of such an initiative.
Ecommerce, innovative point of sale systems and international expansion have made it difficult for brick-and-mortar retailers throughout the United States to hit their sales targets in the past years. However, a recent report from professional services firm BDO revealed 30 percent of domestic chief financial officers said U.S. expansion will be their primary method to achieve growth in the new year.
The survey found 32 percent of respondents said advertising and promotions will be their biggest investment in 2013, while 26 said they will spend the most on remodeling some of their stores. A recent Forbes article discussed how a multidimensional approach will often be the best way firms can cater to customers. The use of online resources, as well as improving offerings at physical stores could improve relationships with customers.
“The opportunities abroad and online are clear, but retail executives still believe that U.S. stores are a core part of the business,” said Ted Vaughan, partner in the retail and consumer products practice at BDO USA. “In addition to investing in existing stores, we’re also seeing several online brands introduce storefronts for the first time as they look to appeal to shoppers who want to see and try on merchandise in person.”
With mobile point of sale systems becoming more commonplace at today’s retailers, it is imperative to invest in the proper security infrastructure that can serve as a defense against a potential data breach. Failing to protect employee devices could lead to lost business and customer information that can be potential debilitating for the firm.
BYOD policies must be protected
New research from provider of integrated cybercrime prevention solutions ThreatMetrix revealed roughly one-quarter of retail and financial services firms give employees the option to use their personal devices for work purposes, while only 15 percent have a formal policy in place for how staff members are able to use such gadgets that hold both corporate and consumer information. An eWeek article that covered the study pointed to the fact that retail businesses also need to protect their own technology and must limit the capabilities that employees have on using work-issued smartphones, tablets and laptops.
“While BYOD often enables a more efficient and productive workplace, businesses cannot ignore the additional risk of unknown devices connecting to corporate networks,” said Andreas Baumhof, chief technology officer at ThreatMetrix. “As BYOD becomes commonplace across industries, a layered security approach, including device identification and malware protection is crucial to protect corporate and customer data.”
Security measures need by many firms
Seventy percent of employees are accessing corporate email on their personal devices and 53 percent are logging onto the the company website with such gadgets. These actions, and more sophisticated tasks carried out by the workforce, must be protected from from computer hackers and cybercriminals. A security infrastructure needs to be in place before employees are even granted access on their smartphone, tablets and laptops, giving retail firms the ability to ensure the safety of personal and corporate data.
“Retail and financial service organizations need preventative measures in place to protect both corporate and employee-owned devices from today’s highly sophisticated cybercrime threats,” Baumhof said. “Ensuring that every device can be safely used in the workplace is a challenge for which few organizations are prepared.”
The research also showed 97 percent of responding companies use desktop computers, while 85 percent give employees access to laptops, which proves new innovations are not the only technologies that companies need to keep safe from data breaches.
Today’s consumers are more intrigued by point of sale systems than the ability of retailers to offer them same-day delivery. According to a recent survey conducted by The Boston Consulting Group, 74 percent of 1,500 U.S. consumers said free delivery would improve their online shopping experience, while just 9 percent could by wooed by same-day delivery.
The world of ecommerce has grown, and Reuters reported smaller retailers are trying to look for any way to put themselves in competition with large competition, including Wal-Mart, Amazon and Nordstrom. By offering same-day delivery, they may be able to fill a need that other businesses cannot.
“Same-day delivery will be a niche service in the near future,” said Rob Souza, a partner at BCG. “Retailers may choose to offer it to build customer loyalty, enhance brand awareness, or keep up with the competition. But it is unlikely to generate significant revenues for either retailers or carriers.”
Same-day delivery may be attractive to affluent, younger urban-dwellers with the report revealing some 18-34 year olds are willing to pay up to $10 to get the products they ordered on the same day companies received their information.
Innovations in technology are changing how companies do business, the latest breakthrough that furthered that notion is the mobile point of sale system, which poses benefits such as cost-efficiency, the ability to conduct inventory tracking and ease of use. A recent blog post for Resource Nation outlined a list of industries that have been changed by the cutting edge solution:
- Food trucks: The owners of these roaming food stand can’t afford to have large POS systems in their vehicles, and by having the ability to use smartphones or tablets to process credit or debit card payments, the truck owners can increase their revenues by being able to accept all forms of money.
- Restaurants: Many consumers are annoyed at the end of their meals when they have to wait around for the waiter/waitress to bring the check to the table so they can leave. With mobile POS comes tableside transactions that can make dinner move faster, enabling restaurants to feed more customers.
- Farmers market: For years, consumers have passed up farmers markets because they didn’t have any cash. By adopting mobile POS systems, farmers are able to generate much higher sales numbers.
Credit card readers are getting less of a workout in today’s retail stores, and more on ecommerce sites as some Americans continue to opt for the online shopping experience over traveling to stores and picking out their desired products.
A recent survey conducted by credit card comparison website CreditDonkey.com revealed some interesting statistics that reveal the mindset of many American shoppers. Roughly 41 percent of consumers have memorized the security code on the back of their credit cards, while only about one-quarter of respondents know their driver’s license number.
“The sign of a heavily used card nowadays is whether its owner knows the security code by heart,” said Charles Tran, founder of CreditDonkey.com. “After all, the main reason why anybody would need the code is to complete their purchase online. If you shop online frequently enough, soon enough you’ll discover you have memorized your security code as well.”
With ecommerce opportunities becoming the preferred means of shopping for some customers, retailers must continue to try to entice customers to come into their stores with money-saving deals and discounts that make the trip worth it.
Consumers have spoken, and they are showing that they want a point of sale system that they can interact with on ecommcerce sites, as well as in physical locations when they head out to their favorites stores. Retailers are hoping to improve the customer experience by changing many of the ways they are marketing and selling their goods, as well as moving to several digital processes. With Experian Marketing Services set to release its 2013 Digital Marketer Report, marketers will learn how to better meet the needs of their client base.
A multichannel approach is becoming a necessity
According to the research, 74 percent of marketers surveyed have either coordinated, or are in the process of coordinating, customer interactions on ecommerce sites, as well as in retail stores. Brands are going to need to cater to customers on many platforms to keep them loyal to the company. In some instances, those efforts won’t be enough, with showrooming forcing brick-and-mortar stores to either lower prices to drive customers away from online shopping opportunities or try new marketing tactics to get more people in the stores. Americans are continuing to look online for the best prices on the products they intend to purchase.
“The way consumers gain information from brands – the means by which they get it, even the ways in which they process it – is constantly evolving given the complexity of our multichannel world and evolving consumer behavior driven by economic variables,” said Bill Tancer, general manager of global research for Experian Marketing Services.
Retailers must learn to cater to ‘always on’ consumers
Smartphones, tablets and laptops give Americans the ability to constantly be online, and therefore, always be connected to their email, text messages and social media platforms. The survey revealed 59 percent of adults send and receive emails from at least two devices each week, while a similar survey from Experian showed 36 percent of U.S. organizations are using five or more channels to connect with their customer base.
“With the recent retail numbers coming out of January, retailers can anticipate consumer hesitation, making it imperative that marketers create integrated customer experiences and maximize digital marketing opportunities and return on investment,” said Tancer.
In fact, mobile marketing is beginning to gain traction with consumers, with the 2013 Digital Marketer Report showing nearly half of adults in the U.S. feel that a conversation over a text message is just as meaningful as talking on the phone. This provides another opportunity for marketers to reach potential customers at their convenience.
Retailers that have yet to explore the online realm may be soon losing out of many customers, thanks to the customer satisfaction provided by ecommerce and online sopping sites. According to recent research from the American Customer Satisfaction Index and customer experience analytics firm ForeSee, experiences with ecommerce websites are found to be more appealing to consumers than traveling to brick-and-mortar stores.
The annual E-Commerce Report measures customer satisfaction and found the average online retail aggregate posted a score of 82, while the brick-and-mortar retail trade sector achieved a score of 76.6. With consumers enjoying their experiences online shopping more than going into stores, retailers may see fewer transactions sliding through their credit card reader and POS stations.
“Just as we have seen in the public sector, consumers enjoy the convenience and power of ecommerce and online transactions,” said Claes Fornell, founder of ACSI and professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. “Ecommerce is maturing, and even the smaller companies are improving, keeping up with or sometimes surpassing larger, more established companies.
Those retailers who have yet to give customers an opportunity to buy product online may want to begin implement an ecommerce strategy.
Older Posts » | <urn:uuid:7d9fc227-954d-4239-9c3b-78757f629309> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.barcodediscount.com/articles/?cat=4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956755 | 2,981 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Anastasiya Goers of Balance In Me.
What is the most difficult part about simplifying your life? It is fairly easy to clean your closets and organize your belongings. It is possible to eliminate activities that are not really important to us (watching TV, web surfing.) Even simplifying your finances is not too complicated if you have a general plan.
The most difficult part about simplifying life is dealing with emotional attachments. Let’s say that you have an old picture frame (vase, shirt, shoes etc.) in your house. If it’s just a thing that you picked up on sale or bought ten years ago you will probably be able to change its permanent residence to “trash.” But how would you deal with this thing if you got it from your late grandmother? Maybe your parents gave it to you as a graduation present? Parting with this thing (even if you do not like it too much) gets much more difficult.
Another difficult part about simplifying life is going against social approval. We are so used to a certain order of things and certain cultural rules that we do not even doubt them. We assume that we need to have cable with 200+ channels only because everybody else has it in their homes. We break our backs to sell things for the fundraisers at our kids’ schools just because everybody else does. This list goes on and on.
I had trouble simplifying my life for all the reasons mentioned above and this is when I found a balanced approach to simplicity. Balance helped me find the simplicity that I was personally comfortable with. I didn’t have to limit my belongings to just 100 things and I didn’t get rid of all social commitments. However, I realized what is really important in my life and what is just clutter.
Here is the balanced approach to simplicity that I use in my life. Can you use it in yours?
Don’t try to win social approval
Our life is full of tasks and responsibilities that we assume important only because they are traditional in our culture. Most of these social norms do nothing but clutter our life and waste our valuable resources.
- TV and cable. Most people believe that it is a must to have a TV and cable in your house. Why? You can save hundreds of dollars a year if you just cancel your cable. You can free up several hours every day if you quit watching TV shows and news. You can spend this time pursuing your passion, enjoying your time with the family, working out or fixing a deliciously healthy meal for your family. If you are in the mood for a good movie – pop in a DVD and enjoy your movie without annoying commercial interruptions.
- Cell phones can be quite useful in emergency situations but there is definitely a limit to how much they should be used. I personally have the bottom-line model which I got for free when I signed up for the cheapest cell phone plan. You can save your time if you stop reading and writing emails on your cell phone, checking social media updates and sending text messages. Actually staying connected and plugged-in all the time causes enormous amounts of stress and clutters your mind. Do yourself a favor, simplify your cell phone.
- Car is another necessity that most people cannot imagine their lives without. Granted, it is difficult or even impossible to survive without a car in certain areas (I live in an area like that.) However, you can always limit the number of cars in your household (currently we have only one car in our family of four and this is enough for us.) Actually having only one car helps my family spend more time together.
You can simplify your life even more if you don’t buy a new car. Considering how fast cars depreciate over time (a new car automatically loses at least $2000 of its value when you drive off the dealer’s parking lot) it is always a better idea to buy a good used car. By choosing a used car you will be able to avoid a car payment that sucks a lot of money from your budget over time.
- Kids’ activities. Some parents believe that their kids must be involved in every possible activity out there. I believe that some moms actually have an unofficial race of how many activities they can take their kids to. Let your children pick activities that they truly like and focus on those. If you teach your kids to find their focus from their early years then they will be able to maintain this focus in their adult life too. Don’t you wish your parents did that to you?
- Don’t always be part of the team. Social commitments can be a good thing sometimes but they can also be a huge waste of time. Fundraisers at your kids’ school, social events at your work or at school, even family reunions can be a huge waste. There is no point in supporting causes that you do not feel strongly about or visiting events that are not interesting to you. We are often afraid of what others would think if we do not participate. Be brave enough to break away from the crowd and make room for what really matters in your life.
There are plenty more examples of social standards that we try to follow in life. How many social norms are you ready to break away from today?
Find the strength to let go
We feel uncomfortable letting go of things and memories that we are emotionally connected to. This connection makes simplifying life very difficult. We feel responsible for keeping certain things (gifts from our relatives of friends) and holding on to memories. Over time it leads to enormous amounts of clutter and huge emotional baggage that does not let you move on in life.
- Gifts. Pick only the most important mementos that mean a lot to you. If your late grandmother gave you a present as a child – by all means, keep it to preserve her memory. However, it does not mean that you have to keep every single thing that she gave you. We do not need things to remember our loved ones, we just need true and pure memories of them.
If you are afraid to offend somebody by throwing away a gift (like a hideous vase that you got from your mother-in-law) – talk to them honestly. Stuffing your house with things that you do not like and do not need won’t make anybody happy. You can even create a list of things that you do not want people giving you (I am personally pretty particular about interior decorations and kitchen utensils.) Let your family and friends know about them and ask them to create similar lists for you.
- Memories. Some memories (especially negative ones) can suffocate you. You need to find strength to forgive the person or even yourself for what happened. There is no way to change your past but there is a way to change your future. Grasp the moment and focus on living in the present.
- Stuff. Don’t let your house turn into a junkyard by preserving every drawing that your child made or keeping every single thing that your family members gave you. Thankfully today we can document most memories with pictures or videos that take no physical space (if you keep them on your computer of course.) Keep only mementos that are truly important (your child’s first drawing or a vase that have been passed through generations in your family) and preserve the other ones digitally.
Simplicity becomes very easy and enjoyable if you approach it with balance. Keep decluttering your life until you feel completely comfortable with the results and until you feel simply in balance inside and out.
Read more from Anastasiya at her blog, Balance In Me, and check out her upcoming virtual retreat Simplify Your Life with Balance: 30 days to declutter your lifestyle. | <urn:uuid:61490fab-e622-49ff-8713-8820aa4a2dac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://zenhabits.net/simple-balance/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9679 | 1,609 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Tag: 'water and sanitation' in 'EUWI Community Space (CS)'
The purpose of this briefing note is to give an update on EU aid to the water and sanitation sector in Africa as it stands now, nearly ten years past the Johannesburg commitments. It synthesizes findings from previous AWG reports and was presented to all EU member states at an ACP council group meeting in May 2011.
Guidance for the use of Water Supply and Sanitation Purpose Codes (OECD DAC Creditor Reporting System)Submitted by Johanna Sjödin on 31-May-2011 - 0 Comments | 1 files | 951 reads
Purpose codes for water and sanitation have been revised taking effect in 2011 reporting on 2010 flows (agreed by the DAC Working Party on Statistics – WP-STAT – in May 2009). The purpose of this Note is to offer guidance to users of the revised codes; as such, the Note is “work in progress” and it is envisaged that the Guidance will be updated in the light of donors’ experience in applying the revised Codes. In offering guidance on the new purpose codes, this document also contributes to the higher objective of improving the overall quality of data in the water sector.
What is working and what is not working? What actions are required? This 4-page policy brief, based on previous AWG studies, gives the answers for improved aid effectivenss for water and sanitation in Africa! | <urn:uuid:3e93dd76-2f7c-4f8a-8c05-4a2a781a315b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.euwi.net/wg/21098/term/1306 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932269 | 299 | 1.632813 | 2 |
The United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) has long been one of the most popular ETFs on the market. Known for its hefty volatility, this first generation commodity ETF invests in front-month futures for natural gas. But the reason why UNG is so well-known is not because it was among the first of the commodity ETFs, but because of its abysmal performance. UNG has been down as much as 98% since inception (prior its rally in the past few months) and has been forced to undergo multiple reverse splits just to stay open. That being said the fund still trades millions of times per day and always has a healthy asset base [for more natural gas news subscribe to our free newsletter].
UNG debuted in April of 2007 to a relatively low response, trading just 5,200 times on its first day. But as time went on, the fund began gathering steam, and was soon cracking 10,000 and eventually cracking the 1,000,000 mark on July 24th, 2008 when the fund dropped roughly 5.5% in one day. As the recession continued to deepen, UNG fell hard. The fund’s historical high came on July 1st, 2008, when it finished out the day at $507.84 (note that this was well before the fund was ever forced to reverse split). From there, things were all downhill as this ETF fell face first into a deadly tailspin.
As natural gas prices took a hit, UNG got pummeled, earning its crown as one of the worst performing ETFs of all time. UNG found its bottom almost five years to the day from its inception, as the fund touched $14.25 on April 19th of this year. But since then, the fund has been on a tear, causing a number of investors to re-consider their positions in the fund and how they trade it [see also 25 Ways To Invest In Natural Gas].
The past few months have watched this asset claw its way higher as temperatures around the country have risen. Searing heat has led to a much higher demand for gas-powered appliances and helped to alleviate some of the growing stockpiles. To better define just how hot it was, the government came out with data revealing that July 2012 was the hottest month in U.S. history. This caused natural gas prices to tack on nearly 70% over a three month period (despite plenty of volatility along the way). UNG itself jumped 55% during that same time period.
As such, a number of natural-gas based investments have performed exceptionally well, leading many to make bets on the industry. The only question that remains is how long this rally will last and if you will be able to time it properly. One of the most likable features of UNG is that it has the ability to be shorted and there are also options on the fund. With such an uncertain future for both natural gas and this ultra-popular trading vehicle, it would appear that options are the safest way to make a bet on the movements in UNG [see also Five ETFs to Ride the Natural Gas Rally].
Disclosure: No positions at time of writing. | <urn:uuid:88100d1d-f558-4021-8783-c40b1f873bf4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://commodityhq.com/2012/the-rise-and-demise-of-ung/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97827 | 649 | 1.625 | 2 |
An anonymous reader writes "Ian Clarke, creator of Freenet, has been working on a new open source project called Swarm. The concept is to allow a computer program to be distributed across multiple computers in a manner almost completely transparent to the programmer. The system observes the program executing and figures out how the workload should be distributed for maximum efficiency. Swarm is implemented in Scala. Its at an early-prototype stage, and Ian has created a good 36 minute video explaining the concept and the current implementation." | <urn:uuid:ad545d58-4794-434a-ba23-3d301d4750e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/10/11/1738234/swarm-a-new-approach-to-distributed-computation?sdsrc=prevbtmprev | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934583 | 100 | 1.765625 | 2 |
About BeauDr Beau Lotto is a globally renowned neuroscientist whose studies in human perception have taken him well beyond the scientific domain and into the fields of education, the arts and business. Public engagement, in the broadest sense, is at the core of what Beau does – whether he's creating scientific experiments, giving talks or making TV programmes. By enabling people to experience what it is to be a scientist, Beau's aim is to encourage them to see science not as an academic investigation but as a way of being that is relevant to every aspect of their lives: this discovery can be powerful enough to make people think differently about both themselves and the world around them. Beau believes passionately in the potential impact of his work on corporate innovation and creativity, and to this end his company, Lottolab Ltd, has teamed up with Purpose, one of London's most innovative branding consultancies.
Beau is in increasing demand as a speaker. He has given two TED talks, a relatively rare honour, which have had more than 1.6 million online viewers combined, and has been invited to speak at one of Google’s Zeitgeist events in 2013. He is an inspiring and motivational speaker and uses illusions, games and interaction to engage his audience.
New Culture of Learning;
Creativity and Innovation;
Public Engagement in Science;
Read MoreBeau's scientific research, carried out both in the US and the UK (he is attached to UCL), is based on a deep and fundamental interest in human beings. It is also influenced by a strong artistic instinct and a boldness of vision. Beau has always looked outside the lab environment in order to collaborate with those who share his interest in exploring different ways of seeing – and doing – things, be they scientists, artists, musicians, educationalists, designers or entire businesses. As a result his domain is as much a creative studio as a lab, whose output ranges from art installations and visual illusions to workshops designed for corporate leaders. There's not a lab coat in sight.
Beau's ambitious ideas about the relevance of science to ordinary people have taken him to places where few other scientists have ventured – including into exhibition space inside the world's best-known Science Museum, in London, where Lottolab was resident from 2010–12. While at the museum, Lottolab pushed public engagement in science to new levels by involving the public directly in experiments. Beau's education programme led to the publication of the first-ever, peer-reviewed scientific paper written by schoolchildren (Blackawton Bees, published by the Royal Society).
The potential impact of Beau's work on corporate innovation and creativity has been recognised by branding consultant, Purpose Ltd, with which Lottolab is now collaborating. This partnership is currently developing several experiential products, including an interactive 'digital tree' in a prime London location; an augmented reality social network (in development in Silicon Valley); and, in collaboration with the Peter Baumann Foundation in San Francisco, a pop-up laboratory cum night club/cabaret – a format that Lottolab explored with great success during its Lates events at the Science Museum in London.
His experimentalist, visionary approach to science is winning Beau an ever wider public audience; he has made significant contributions to two episodes of the BBC's Horizon programme, filmed two programmes with National Geographic Channel and is currently working with PBS in the United States. One journalist suggested that Beau could do as much good for the public appreciation of science as Jamie Oliver has done for our appreciation of food and cooking. And Beau is in increasing demand as a speaker. He has given two TED talks, a relatively rare honour, which have had more than 1.6 million online viewers combined, and has been invited to speak at one of Google's Zeitgeist events in 2013. | <urn:uuid:da19b1d3-5df6-4d0b-9ce8-e7d5890042f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mariafranzoni.com/speakers-directory/futurists-technologists-scientists/item/1941-beau-lotto | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972711 | 778 | 1.796875 | 2 |
The company has developed the high potency chocolate with its Coco-Lycosome ingredient, composed of either lycopene, found in tomatoes or watermelons, or lutein, which is found in spinach and kale said to boost the presence of epicatechin, which in turn boosts the power of cocoa flavanols.
“The ingredient could be added at 1 per cent levels at the melting stage to increase the bioavailability of epicatechin by 20 times,” says Lycotec’s founder Ivan Petyaev.
Furthermore the founder claims that “we can improve the microcirculation and oxygen delivery,” which can be beneficial in reducing cellulite inflammation to improve the skin.
“We can also make milk chocolate as beneficial as dark chocolate,” he adds, pointing out that previous studies on the health potential of cocoa flavanols are all related to dark chocolate.
The ingredient is said to be most suitable for premium chocolate products, while Petyaev reckons that one day it will obtain government subsidization due to its anti-ageing properties, making it cheaper.
However, he points out that more research still needs to be done before there is concrete proof that the new chocolate ingredient is really helpful, "we need to call for further studies to assess the health impact using larger volumes."
Lycotec has patented the technology to produce Coco-Lycosome and plans to license it and supply ingredients through a partner.
Petyaev reveals that the company is also currently in negotiation with two ‘major’ ingredients suppliers in Europe and the US, and has received a proposal from India to distribute in Asia.
Skin care news
Cosmetics Design is gearing up to its second SkinCare Ingredients virtual trade show to be held next week - June 13, a date skin care professionals should make a note of.
Building on the tremendous success of the first event, which attracted over 3,200 registrants, this year will be offering visitors increased networking opportunities, a new conference program that hits on some of the most pertinent trends in the category, as well as a show floor featuring booths with some of the leading names in the industry. Click here to register | <urn:uuid:eaf7037a-3c07-47a2-ad5a-d257e02371b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com/Product-Categories/Nutricosmetics/UK-scientists-unlock-cocoa-s-health-potential-for-the-nutricosmetic-market | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951145 | 453 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Patients and caregivers alike appreciate medications with packaging that is easy to open and use. Ease of use is also considered the cat’s meow for veterinary packaging.
Obvious as that sounds, it’s not always the case. The packaging for a popular liquid flea-and-tick treatment for pets serves as a good example, according to Dr. Rae Ann Van Pelt, DVM and co-founder of 21-year-old Family Pet Animal Hospital in Chicago. “First, you have to open and remove an application tube out of a blister pack,” she explains. “Then there’s a rigid, triangular plastic tube that is only hard on one side. You can’t peel the softer portion of the tube off because you have to pour the medication onto the dog through a little spout once you’ve broken a little perforation on the applicator tip. The liquid tends to get all over your hands, and the treatment itself is a chemical that you don’t want on your hands. You have to make sure you get the full dosage printed on the package. Most pet owners are wary about therapeutic-type chemicals, and they get upset when they get it on their hands.”
Family Pet Animal Hospital employs 45 people. In addition to an on-site pharmacy, the practice provides surgical and ultrasound procedures, and hospitalization for illnesses, particularly geriatric care. It serves more than 6,000 “patients” annually, including cats, dogs, rabbits, ferrets, and other small mammals. Family Pet personnel treat pets with various prescription vaccines, solid and liquid medications, and nutritional supplements.
Van Pelt says, “We order vaccines, medicines, and nutritional supplements from multiple companies and through our distributor. We sell only prescriptions or supplements that say ‘for veterinary sale only,’ as we do not have a retail license.”
From Van Pelt’s perspective, one of the most significant differences between physicians treating humans compared to doctors of veterinary medicine is “that in human medicine, doctors are well-educated in one specific area, whereas a veterinarian is more of a generalist who needs to understand the ‘big picture’ in extreme detail.”
Asked about the difference in packaging for medications used in the treatments for humans and animals, Van Pelt notes, “A majority of the drugs that we use are human drugs. One of the things that we are at the mercy of is that the tablets are made for the size of a human. So, we know we can’t be exact, and we do the best we can. For crucial medicines, we use compounding pharmacies, such as Braun PharmaCare, a human pharmacy based in Chicago that is also licensed in veterinary compounding and can make smaller milligram-strength capsules, liquids, or chewable treats for us. They also make some transdermal ointments applied into the ears of a cat, for example, which provides an option for patients whose feline will not take a treatment any other way.”
Like many animal hospitals, Family Pet has a pharmacy, but Van Pelt explains that it is illegal for a veterinary hospital to act as a dispensing pharmacy for something that’s already been compounded. “We can dispense things that we receive from a distributor directly to the client, but we cannot give them to middlemen unless we have a pharmacy license,” she says.
Packaging ‘pet peeves’
Family Pet typically receives pet treats in blister packs, and liquid meds and capsules in traditional brown vials. Most require no refrigeration.
Similar to the flea-and-tick treatment mentioned above, Van Pelt is often frustrated by packaging such as the glass vial used for one particular brand of morphine derivative. “It’s a human product that requires you to break off the top of the glass vial. Then we have to draw out the whole drug product at one time. In veterinary use, we usually don’t need all of it, so we’re taking a syringe and withdrawing just the amount of cc’s we need. The problem is that it’s a controlled substance, and while the DEA does give you some fudge room because they know that you can’t be perfect, it’s a frustrating situation.
“If [the product manufacturer] put the liquid in a vaccine-like vial with a rubberized stopper on top we would have a much easier time dispensing it.” Van Pelt recalls that at one point, the product was filled into a vial that made usage much easier. “We were thrilled when it came in the other packaging, but then they went back to the glass vial.”
She explains that glass breakage isn’t a problem, although “some people are afraid of breaking off the top because they are not used to it. If you do it correctly, it breaks cleanly. Occasionally it doesn’t and then you’ve got all that liquid running around the bottom of the vial,” she says.
Advantix provides a package that Van Pelt says makes it easy to open and apply the flea-and-trick liquid treatment. “Advantix comes in a little plastic tube,” she explains. “You take off the cap and use the back end of it to puncture a little hole in the tube. Then you squeeze it out nicely on the pet. There is no mess. There is no spillage. It’s easy to use here in our practice, and it’s easy for pet owners to use to treat their pets.”
Asked about mail-order medications, their legitimacy, and their packaging, Van Pelt warns that a well-known toll-free number pet med firm has been sued multiple times. “They are sending packages that are almost identical [to legitimate product packaging] but not 100 percent. The other thing is that you have to watch the expiration on the drugs. They are selling things that are about to expire. Some companies like Foster and Smith are very reputable. However, in order to dispense the medication to a patient that lives in Illinois, you must have a valid client-patient relationship, which means you need to have seen them within the last year. So these pharmacies have a pharmacy license.
“That upsets veterinarians because prescription meds provide one of the few profit areas for us, which is important because the margins for veterinary medicines are low compared to other professions. It’s taking away one of the things that keeps us afloat.”
Further packaging thoughts
Van Pelt also offered the following packaging insights:
• More packaging is beginning to come boxed and sized for dosing by weights where you sell things by the box. For example, Frontline typically comes in a pack with six treatments.
• Anti-vomiting drug Ceremia is a tablet and is typically administered for five days in a row followed by two days of rest. These treatments follow an injection at the office. “Prepackaging of the drug means we don’t have to have somebody in our pharmacy counting out pills, and we don’t need to purchase a vial,” she says.
• Another drug, Panacur, used as a deworming medication used to be sold as a powder within a large container. “We had little measuring spoons and had to measure it out and put it in little packets because the powder gets sprinkled on food daily for three to five days, depending on the dosing,” Van Pelt explains. “It was very labor-intensive. Now it comes in premeasured packets for weight. That has made life a lot easier. It also makes pricing a lot easier because with the original Panacur, it was difficult to judge how many dosages we would get out of the big container.” | <urn:uuid:6416f914-1bec-43f1-8f80-717a9db5a4b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.packworld.com/print/48862 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957353 | 1,668 | 1.84375 | 2 |
John McNeil was jailed and eventually convicted of murder; she moved back to the North Carolina town where the high school lovers grew up, unable to cope with the memories that haunted her. Now, she’s fighting breast cancer that has spread to her bones and hopes a judge’s ruling could set her husband free.
Georgia has a so-called Stand Your Ground law on the books that allows people to use deadly force if their lives are in danger. But John McNeil was charged anyway, nine months after the shooting. The case has since prompted calls from the NAACP and other groups for such laws to apply to all citizens, regardless of race. McNeil is black, and the man he shot was white. But white neighbors also testified about being intimidated by the man, who built their houses.
“We’re standing strong not only for John, but also for any homeowner who should have the right to protect himself and any parents who should have the right to protect their child,” Anita McNeil said in an interview at a friend’s home.
A Georgia judge ruled last month in favor of a request to release John McNeil, who’s serving a life sentence for the 2005 killing of Brian Epp, who had built what the McNeils believed was their dream home.
John McNeil, now 46, wasn’t charged immediately. Police said he was defending himself, his home and his son, La’Ron, who called his father after seeing Epp in the backyard. The Cobb County prosecutor eventually pursued charges, leading to McNeil’s conviction.
The ruling gave Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens 30 days to decide whether to appeal to Georgia’s Supreme Court. Otherwise, McNeil could be released by the end of October. The office of Cobb County District Attorney Pat Head referred questions to Olens, whose office declined comment. Epp’s widow also didn’t return a phone call.
In May, Head told The Associated Press that the case is a reminder of the potential pitfalls of self-defense arguments.
“Just because someone hits you in the face doesn’t mean you pull a .45 and shoot him in the head,” he said. “It can be hard to prove it’s self-defense because the jury puts themselves in the same footing as anybody else.”
The “stand your ground” law that advocates say should protect McNeil is similar to a law cited by authorities who initially declined to charge neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, who was unarmed. Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, told police he shot Martin, who was black, in self-defense during a scuffle. The decision by police to not charge him sparked protests across the nation. Prosecutors ultimately charged him with second-degree murder; Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty.
McNeil never denied shooting Epp. He told police in Kennesaw, Ga., that Epp was belligerent and had threatened his son with a knife just before the shooting. | <urn:uuid:bcad8242-0112-422f-b2e9-308861360667> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cherokeetribune.com/view/full_story/20393917/article-Family-continues-fight-for-man%E2%80%99s-release-from-prison?instance=secondary_story_left_column | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98053 | 633 | 1.828125 | 2 |
E-ZMyth about E-ZPass
Reports about an academic study about the effects of traffic congestion on infant health show how easy it is to put misinformation on a fast track in blog world. Contrary to the Internet buzz, there is no report showing that using E-ZPass will make your baby healthier.
There is a Columbia University report by Janet Currie and Reed Walker that first came to my attention with an email with the intriguing subject line: "Parents with EZ-Pass have healthier babies?" It directed me to the usually reliable InsideCharmCity blog, which briefly reported that the study "finds that parents who use EZPass have healthier babies" and credited the excellent Greater Greater Washington blog.
GGW indeed delivered that message and went on to say that "the researchers used parents with and without E-ZPass as a way to get at the effect of exposing babies to less congestion" and credited the How We Drive blog run by David Vanderbilt, author of the fascinating book "Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)."
Vanderbilt copies the study's abstract and otherwise accurately describes the study, adding the caveat that he hadn't actually read it. If he had, he probably wouldn't have used the misleading headline: "Your Baby and E-ZPass."
Ooops. The study doesn't really deal with your baby and E-ZPass, unless you're a mother who lives within 3 kilometers of a toll plaza in New Jersey or Pennsylvania. It has nothing at all to do with E-ZPass subscribers and their babies. Zip. Zero. Nada. So don't bother to get an E-ZPass to increase your infant's birth weight. Especially if you're only a sporadic user of toll facilities. After all, you have to pay a monthly fee ($1.50) and buy a transponder ($21) for E-ZPass in Maryland now.
What the study does indicate is that by reducing congestion and auto emissions in the vicinity of toll plaza, E-ZPass appears to have reduced the incidence of low birth weight among babies born to mothers who lived within 3 kilometers (a little over 1 mile) of one of those New Jersey or Pennsylvania toll plazas. That's a highly positive development but hardly as strong an inducement to acquire a pass as improving the health of one's own progeny.
I would also point out that any positive effects on birth weight of E-ZPass in Maryland eight would likely be mitigated by the fact that the state has only seven toll plazas and that those it does have tend to be far removed from dense residential areas. | <urn:uuid:7088c918-fa55-4b83-945b-4291ed25f9f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/traffic/2009/10/ezmyth_about_ezpass.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960877 | 546 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Report: Foreclosures cost neighbors $1.95 trillion
Study seeks to quantify the equity lost by homeowners from nearby foreclosures betwen 2007 and 2011. Minority communities have suffered disproportionate losses, according to the report.
We all know that foreclosures inflict "collateral damage" and drag down property values for the entire neighborhood.
The Center for Responsible Lending has now quantified the cost: Americans have lost nearly $2 trillion in equity from nearby foreclosures, according to a new report, "Collateral Damage: The Spillover Costs of Foreclosures."
That’s just the equity lost by the neighbors from homes that entered the foreclosure process between 2007 and 2011, not the losses incurred by the foreclosed homeowners themselves or the costs to communities in lost tax revenue and higher crime rates. It’s estimated that Americans have lost $7 trillion in equity during the foreclosure crisis.
Post continues below
"CRL’s report is troubling evidence of how much the economic costs of foreclosures are spilling over into communities all over America," Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said in a news release. "Communities of color, which have been targeted for years by predatory lenders and abused for years by mortgage servicers, have been practically drowning."
More than half that $1.95 trillion in lost equity came from minority homeowners, the group said, whose neighborhoods have suffered disproportionately from the foreclosure crisis and the scourge of bad subprime loans.
A number of lenders have faced legal action for failing to maintain foreclosed properties in minority neighborhoods.
According to the center’s calculations, the average loss of equity from nearby foreclosures is $21,000, or 7% of median home value. In minority neighborhoods, the average loss was $37,000, or 13% of median home value.
"Once you get one or two or three foreclosures on a block, you start really creating all kinds of negative spillover effects on the neighborhood, and crime is just one of them,” Georgia Tech professor Dan Immergluck said last year in a report on the MarketPlace radio program. Immergluck has studied foreclosure effects on communities and is the author of "Foreclosed: High-Risk Lending, Deregulation, and the Undermining of America's Mortgage Market."
Papa Joe, you know nothing about the free market. Real Estate companies have NO control over the cost of housing. They simply work within the market forces. Please explain how a realtor can manipulate the price of a house.
Victo34455, This WAS happening under the Bush administration, true, but it was Dodd/Frank who were directly overseeing the process and they are the ones who have the responsibility for what happened.
Nobody lost any "equity" the housing bubble was created by greedy real estate shysters artificially inflating the value and stupid gullible ignorant "greedy" people who jumped into the ponzi style scheme "pyramid scheme" too close to the end.
As Gump's mommy said: "Stupid is as stupid does."
If you see homes like this, contact me. I want to buy them and fix them.
Silly neighbors, how dare they end up next to a house that foreclosed?
Their fault entirely for taking out a mortgage...
Um, BTW, things are entirely different in Iceland where the Bankers were punished and the Homeowner who dared to take out a mortgage were helped if they needed it...
How come no stories to this effect, MSN? I'd like to know that data, too.
plaineyjaney please tell the whole truth. For example the republicans are in bed with the bankers, all of Wall Street, big oil, big pharma, the insurance industry, defense contractors, etc., etc., etc. The K Street talking points that seem to blame liberals for everything while ignoring the actions of conservatives that have been absolutely detrimental to the USA is absurd and solves nothing.
@38Super, you are 99% right. There are a few people who lose their houses to other circumstances, however, and I truly feel bad for them. As for most people, the ones taking exotic loans in order to get a house, HAD to know that when the truth in lending statement they had to sign to get the house told them their payments would quadruple, or that they would owe a giant balloon payment at the end of a loan, that they were going to lose the house. I don't know how they couldn't have seen it.
It isn't just about minorities, though. It's about everyone who wants more than the can afford, and who isn't willing to wait until they can.
Well there is no one to blame but the home buyers themselves. Most could not afford what they bought. During the bubble the scam was purpetrated by the Government i.e.. Fanny, Freddie, VHA, and banks. Wall street saw a way to rip everyone off and did so. So who got baied out the above aforementioned because they were ll in bed together. I'm tired of hearing about the por minorities, most should have never been allowed to buy a house in the first place because they could not pay the mortgage. Majority of home buyers were way in over their heads and barely living pay check to paycheck, with credit cards maxed out or close to it. There is a sucker born every day. All of a sudden now banks are want what they should have wanted all along, reasonable down payments, good credit history, monhtly incomes much greater than the mortgage payments and etc. Did any of these homebuyers think about what if I loose my job can I continue to pay my mortgage? I feel sorry for some buyers but most I do not, because they should have never been allowed to buy in the first place.
God I wish people would understand what happened. This article is one of many stupid articles. The foreclosure rate and or area is not what lost equity on housing. The Equity was false. It was not a real appreciation therefore not real money.
Many people who got foreclosed on did so because of this false equity. They went to refi to get out of there problem and found they owed more than they where worth.
Property increase at rates of 15 and 20% A Freaking YEAR, from 2003 till 2007. This was not a true indicator of value. There was never a housing shortage and never a value increase. REALTORS for the most part started turning houses like a deck of cards. and with ever re-sale added another 7% to the property to cover there FEE. That is a 7% increase on every 100k of value when the national average was 4%. The Banks would loan based on Credit and appraisal value. Yes they where giving away money, But it was based on false equity. NO ONE in America was protected from this. Most people are upside down today and don't even know it because the are current and have no reason to move or even get a value on there home.
About Teresa Mears
Teresa Mears is a veteran journalist who has been interested in houses since her father took her to tax auctions to carry the cash at age 10. A former editor of The Miami Herald's Home & Design section, she lives in South Florida where, in addition to writing about real estate, she publishes Miami on the Cheap to help her neighbors adjust to the loss of 60% of their property value. | <urn:uuid:1bc129ee-fe0d-4852-bbf5-d6063ee34f1e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://realestate.msn.com/blogs/listedblogpost.aspx?post=b0c86feb-4113-4ee5-8518-e23a6d6b57c0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978079 | 1,551 | 1.75 | 2 |
Special Projects Assistant, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Lila Higgins is a museum educator with 10 years of experience in environmental education, exhibit development, and citizen science programming. In late 2008 she joined the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles (NHM) working in the Education & Exhibits department. She oversees the Museum’s Community Science and Live Animal programs, and is also the lead educator on the Museum’s newest indoor/outdoor exhibit, focused on public participation in urban biodiversity research. Prior to working at the NHM, Lila worked on both coasts in many non-profit and governmental organizations. She has a broad background with expertise in areas other than museum education, including volunteer management and biological control research. Lila holds a bachelor’s degree in entomology from University of California, Riverside and a master’s degree in environmental education from California State University, San Bernardino. | <urn:uuid:6a7930c9-6fbb-4799-941b-5a93835d10fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.birds.cornell.edu/citscitoolkit/conference/ppsr2011/team/workshop-participants/higgins | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934594 | 186 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Upon my father’s death, I inherited every bit of his family history that he had set aside at my Aunt’s house. Among the things were a stack of photographs and portraits that he had saved. Were they labeled? What do you think? I have managed to figure most of them out, but this family has intrigued me.
I’ve shared this picture with others in various family lines and nobody thinks anybody looks familiar. I know it must be family, otherwise it would not have been saved all these years!
What I know about this family:
- They were not an affluent family. Their clothes don’t fit, their shoes are scuffed, they need haircuts and they are standing in dirt.
- They were probably photographed by a traveling photographer.
- Either they or the photographer covered the home with their tablecloths. To show off the tablecloths? To cover their home?
- This was either two or three generations. I’d guess three.
- This was photographed in the winter when the leaves were off of the trees, most probably in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania since that is where most of my family is from.
Any thoughts on this? I wish the photographer had taken the time to put his name on this. He, after all, took the time to put it on a cardboard backing. . . . | <urn:uuid:547891f3-9fea-4b5e-960d-95d519d294d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stienstradl.wordpress.com/tag/family-portraits/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.993115 | 283 | 1.632813 | 2 |
A huge tornado tears through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, killing dozens. Slideshow
Exclusive: Brazil wants Venezuela election if Chavez dies - sources
SAO PAULO/BRASILIA |
SAO PAULO/BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil is urging Venezuela's government to hold elections as quickly as possible if President Hugo Chavez dies, senior officials told Reuters on Monday, a major intervention by Latin America's regional powerhouse that could help ensure a smoother leadership transition in Caracas.
Brazilian officials have expressed their wishes directly to Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro, the officials said on condition of anonymity. Chavez has designated Maduro as his preferred successor if he loses his battle with cancer.
"We are explicitly saying that if Chavez dies, we would like to see elections as soon as possible," one official said. "We think that's the best way to ensure a peaceful democratic transition, which is Brazil's main desire."
Chavez is in Cuba receiving cancer treatment and he has not been seen in public for a month, prompting speculation that he is near death.
Venezuela's constitution says a new election must be held within 30 days if the president dies. Before leaving for Cuba, Chavez urged Venezuelans to back Maduro should the cancer leave him incapacitated, and Chavez's backers and the opposition appear to be preparing behind the scenes for a possible new vote.
Yet some foreign officials in the region, and some activists in more radical Venezuelan opposition circles, have privately expressed fears that the government could bend the rules if it wants, especially if polls show Maduro might lose.
The Supreme Court's controversial decision to postpone Chavez's inauguration last week reinforced concerns that loopholes could be used to keep the current government in power.
Venezuela's government said Sunday that Chavez's health has improved somewhat, though his lung infection still requires special care.
Brazil's stance on Venezuela is critical because it is by far Latin America's biggest country and it enjoys growing economic and diplomatic clout in the region.
Its president, Dilma Rousseff, is a moderate leftist whose party has strongly supported Chavez over the past decade. Yet she is also perceived as neutral and democratic enough to be a credible broker in helping Venezuela chart a path forward if a political crisis erupts.
The Brazilians have also communicated their desire for quick elections via "emissaries" to main opposition leader Henrique Capriles. By clearly supporting a democratic solution now, they hope to dissuade Capriles and others from inciting civil unrest in the event Chavez dies, the officials said.
"We're working very hard to ensure there's peace," the first official said.
Capriles, whom most assume would run against Maduro in an election, has so far taken a relatively subdued tone despite the political uncertainty. He said last week that Chavez's supporters would "win" politically if there was a violent confrontation.
BRASILIA WANTS TO TAKE THE LEAD
Brazil is keeping the United States apprised of its efforts, and is hoping to convince Washington to allow it to take the lead in managing a potential leadership transition in Venezuela. Chavez is one of the world's most vocal anti-U.S. leaders, and the Brazilian officials said they fear that any direct U.S. intervention in Venezuelan affairs could backfire.
Venezuela's opposition is demanding that Chavez step aside and name a caretaker president while he recovers - but those complaints have so far been ignored by governments around the region, including the Rousseff administration.
Brazil's push for quick elections in a post-Chavez Venezuela marks another important step in its emergence as a diplomatic heavyweight and champion of democracy in Latin America. Rousseff led a strong regional backlash last year when Paraguay's Congress impeached and removed then-President Fernando Lugo.
Under Rousseff's predecessor and mentor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil also took a proactive role in trying to resolve a political crisis in Honduras following the ouster of former President Manuel Zelaya in 2009.
Previously, Brazil had been more shy about taking the lead in regional crises, preferring to emphasize the right of countries to determine their own fates - long the bedrock principle of Brazilian diplomacy.
Lula, who remains an influential power broker in the region, will travel later this month to Cuba, where some speculate he could meet with Chavez, his longtime friend.
(Editing by Todd Benson and David Brunnstrom)
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NEW DELHI: In a silver lining for flagging Indian economy, eight core sectors posted a higher growth rate of 4.6 per cent in May against a dismal 2.2 per cent expansion rate in the previous month. The infrastructure sector had grown 5.8 per cent in May 2011. However, the cumulative growth rate of infrastructure industries in April-May 2012 was lower at 4.2 per cent, from 5 per cent in the same period last year, according to the data released by the commerce and industry ministry today.
The eight industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, fertilisers, petroleum refinery products, electricity, cement and finished steel - have a weight of 37.9 per cent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). Economists said the improvement in May would have a positive impact on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) numbers. "The numbers are better than April. It would help in the improvement of the IIP numbers," Crisil Principal Economist D K Joshi said.
Industrial production declined by 3.5 per cent in March mainly on account of contraction in manufacturing and mining output. Hit by global woes and domestic problems, the economic growth rate slowed to nine-year low, both in the March quarter at 5.3 per cent and for 2011-12 fiscal at 6.5 per cent, prompting the industry to demand "immediate and bold action" to arrest slowdown. Natural gas and fertiliser output contracted by 10.8 per cent and 15.1 per cent respectively during May. Petroleum refinery products and crude oil production slowed down to 2.9 per cent and 0.5 per cent, from 4.5 per cent and 9.8 per cent respectively during May 2011. | <urn:uuid:0212b81a-a5d3-4e8b-9ce6-b181d12aeab5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Core-sector-growth-improves-to-4-6-per-cent-in-May/articleshow/14506135.cms | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944931 | 351 | 1.679688 | 2 |
NEW TO YOGA
Where do I start if I’m new to yoga?
Our classes are open to all levels of yoga students. Try a couple of different styles and instructors to see what suits your needs best, but a good class to start with is Yoga Foundations (Sunnyvale or San Francisco) or Foundations of Flow (Belmont) classes. Please arrive early and let the instructor know that you’re new to yoga. Always be sure to let him/her know if you are working with injuries or special conditions. Listen to the instructions that the teacher explains during each pose to make sure your body is in the right position; often she will describe modifications to the pose for beginners. Most importantly, remember to breathe and to have fun!
What do I bring and/or wear?
Wear comfortable, stretchy workout clothing that allows you to move freely. You’ll need a yoga mat and a towel. We rent mats at the front desk for $1 and towels are available in the studio. Please bring a lock if you would like to use our complimentary lockers.
Why should I practice yoga?
A yoga practice will increase your flexibility and tone your muscles. It promotes cardio and circulatory health, improved balance and better posture. Yoga also teaches you how to quiet the mind and bring focus to where you want your energy to go….whether it’s a yoga practice, a hard route you want to climb or a difficult day at the office! It's a perfect complement to your climbing and fitness programs. Planet Granite offers all three with one membership!
How long are the classes?
Our yoga classes are generally 75-90 minutes long. Weekday noon classes are 1-1 1/4 hours. If you need to leave early from a noon class, please let your instructor know before class. In addition, if there is a class ahead of you, please wait to enter the room until the instructor has opened the door.
Why are some classes heated?
Warm muscles are more elastic and less susceptible to injury. A heated room makes it easier to warm up and obtain a better range of motion during class.
Breath is essential to Yoga
As breathing is a very important part of yoga, we ask you to please refrain from wearing strong perfumes or products in class. In addition, if you are having trouble breathing (congestion, sniffles, coughs), your body might be telling you to rest and heal. It might be best if you wait until the next class.
Is Yoga Foundations for me?
If it’s your first class or you are fairly new to yoga this is the place to start! In this class, you will learn the basic tools to build a progressive practice over time. If you are an advanced student, this class will allow you to explore the finer subtleties of each pose It's an opportunity to remove some of the old habits that prevent you from moving on into deeper more advanced postures. Each class will build on something different, from sun salutations to cobra pose and even abdominals, breaking down the movement so that each student learns proper form and alignment. Stick with this class and you will slowly build strength and a “foundation” on which to build your practice.
Please check out our faqs section if you have more questions. | <urn:uuid:89d94c24-34db-4b19-abc4-c7ccb21324c1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pgyoga.com/newtoyoga.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937401 | 690 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Marysville has a population of 12,838 (as of the 2009 California Department of Finance estimate), which is a 0.9% increase from the previous year and a 4.6% increase from 2000. Its total area is 3.6 square miles. Its elevation is 62 feet. The average annual rainfall is 21.5 inches. The average high temperature in July is 96.3°, and the average low temperature in January is 38.0°. The native plant communities of Marysville are central oak woodland and riparian forest.
It is illegal in Marysville to swear, make obscene gestures, or use bawdy language in any public place within the hearing range of two or more people. The punishment is a $250 fine. (Per Marysville Municipal Code § 9.12)
The U.S. Postal Service sometimes lists addresses in Dantoni, Linda, Hallwood, Hammonton, Iowa City, Loma Rica, Marigold, Mello, Ostrom, Ramirez, and Tambo as being in Marysville, because they are all in the 95901 zip code. However, on the Yuba-Sutter Wiki, we prefer listing the more specific locations.
As of a July 2007 estimate1, residents' median age was 32 years.
65.8% of residents were white and non-Hispanic, followed by 17.5% of residents who were Hispanic.
Of residents 25 or older, 73.8% had at least a high school degree, 10.9% had at least a bachelor's degree, and 3.1% had a graduate or professional degree.
Of residents 15 or older, 43.9% were married, 28.9% had never married, 14.7% were divorced, 7.7% were widowed, and 4.7% were separated. Marysville has the lowest proportion of married residents in the Yuba-Sutter area.
7.4% of households were headed by unmarried partners. 0.3% of households were headed by self-identified same-sex couples.
For employed residents, the average travel time to work was 23 minutes. The most common industry for males to work in was the construction industry (15%). The most common industries for females to work in were health care (16%), education (14%), and accommodation and food services (10%).
The 2007 median annual household income was $39,955 and 2008 median home price was $171,900. 18.9% of residents were below the poverty level in 2007, and 4.9% were below half the poverty level. The 2008 cost of living index was 96.6 (the United States average is 100).
Donner Party Float in the 2009 Bok Kai Parade. Photo by queerbychoice.A Nisenan village, numbering about 100 people, used to be located in what is now Marysville. The people of this village were called the Memals. When Theodor Cordua settled in Marysville in 1843, 86 of the Memals moved across the Yuba River to what is now Linda.2
Another village, numbering about 50 people, was located at the northern end of what is now Marysville—about half a mile from the Feather River and two miles from the Yuba River, just beyond where the levee now stands. The people of this village were called the Tomchas.3
Marysville was originally called Yubaville, but because the land on the west side of the Feather River had already been dubbed "Yuba City" (although it would not be officially incorporated as a city until 1908), the name Yubaville was deemed too similar to that. It was renamed Marysville for Mary Murphy Covillaud and incorporated as a city in 1850, when California first became a state. In the 19th century, Chinese immigrants nicknamed it "Third City" because it was the third city they came to after San Francisco and Sacramento.
The first City Directory of Marysville, published in 1853, described Marysville as the second most populated city in California, after San Francisco. Marysville had a population of just under 10,000 people at that time - not much smaller than its population today. But Marysville is now by far the smallest and least populated of California's seven original cities. The Levees surrounding it on all sides prevent it from expanding its geographic area.
Marysville violently drove all its Chinese residents out of town in February 1886 (as did Wheatland). It remained a sundown town (in which Chinese people and other people of color were threatened with violence if they attempted to live in the city or to remain in it after sundown) until apparently rather recently, although the policy became gradually less overtly stated in public. The Chinese-American population is still almost zero to this day, although other Asian-American people are beginning to feel comfortable living here; in particular, the significant Hmong-American Community of nearby Linda is beginning to integrate into Marysville.
February: Bok Kai Festival and Parade and Bomb Day
May: Marysville Stampede and Flying U Rodeo
May to September: Friday Night Market
June: Hot Rod Jamboree, Marysville Street Fair, and Juneteenth Celebration
July: Great American Regatta and Cardboard Boat Races, Japanese Obon Festival, and Marysville Peach Fest
September: Youth Fishing Derby and Chinese Moon Festival
August: Yuba-Sutter Stand Down
November: Yuba-Sutter Veterans Day Parade
December: Marysville Christmas Parade
Places to Have Fun
Other Places to Have Fun
Places to Eat or Drink
Places to Shop
Grocery and Drug Stores
Places to Learn
Public Grade Schools
Cordua Elementary School (K–5)
Agnes Weber Meade School (K-6)
Anna Bell Karr School (K-12)
Harry P. B. Carden School (7-12)
Marysville High School (9–12) | <urn:uuid:47509ad7-7c3f-41a1-ac39-20e2a7615619> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://yubasutter.wikispot.org/Marysville | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972075 | 1,253 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Since Superstorm Sandy smashed the Jersey shore, owners of flood-damaged homes up and down the coast feared something else might happen to their properties, sitting vacant and largely unwatched.
Those fears came true for a dozen homeowners this morning in this popular Jersey shore beach town, which is still reeling from damage Sandy inflicted in October.
An early morning fire damaged 12 houses on or near the beachfront, destroying two.
The one small bit of good news was that because most of the homes had already been damaged by the storm, they were not occupied when the fire broke out and no one was injured. Still the fire touched an exposed nerve.
“We were all worried about looting, but the town and the National Guard did a great job of protecting the area. But now this,” said Allyson Aiello, who lives a few doors down from where the fire began and whose home was not damaged by it.
As fire crews mopped up, debris cleanup from the storm continued along the beachfront. A front-end loader scooped sand and building rubble from a storm-damaged home across from the two homes that were destroyed by the fire.
Fire Chief Mike Galos said the blaze broke out at 5:41 a.m. in a house on First Avenue that had come through the storm relatively unscathed.
It spread to an adjacent home, destroying both. Ten other houses nearby and on the Manasquan beachfront suffered various degrees of damage.
Galos said he knew of no obvious cause for the fire, but noted that electric and natural gas services had recently been restored to the area.
“It could have been electrical, it could have been a contractor, or it could have been something else entirely,” he said.
The chief said there was no explosion or other typical indication of a natural gas-fed fire, but said nothing has been ruled out yet.
Some of the homes damaged by the fire had come through the storm with repairable damage, and repairs had already begun on some and could have contributed to the rapid spread of the flames in the house where the fire began.
“It was being renovated after the storm, so there was no sheet rock or interior walls,” Galos said. “It allowed for rapid travel (of flames) to neighboring houses.”
The close proximity of homes along the beachfront also played a role in the spread of the fire; no more than five feet separates some homes. | <urn:uuid:2d7928ef-565c-4f26-82e1-7141ac3e9570> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.telegram.com/article/20121205/NEWS/121209756/1052 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984491 | 512 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Camp Coleman is equipped with an expansive Low Ropes/Team Building course, indoor climbing walls, and a state-of-the-art high ropes course. The low ropes course is made up of over 20 individual elements used to provide Teambuilding and Decision-making programs. The high ropes course includes a central climbing tower, numerous traverse activities, several vertical climbing elements, a pamper pole, two zip wires, and two giant swings.
Teambuilding retreats can be customized to suit the individuals in your group so don't worry if your group includes individuals with a wide spectrum of physical abilities. You don't have to be in great shape or have a regular fitness regimen to be successful. We can easily modify ice breakers, group initiatives, low ropes, and adventure activities to accommodate everyone's limitations and we can accommodate groups from 15 to 100+. Participants with physical limitations that restrict mobility will be somewhat limited in their participation at High Ropes. If everyone is relatively able-bodied, they should be able to participate to some degree in High Ropes. The impact on the group is sometimes more profound in High Ropes activities, so if most are relatively able-bodied, we would definitely recommend including high ropes.
Low Ropes/ Team Building
The low ropes course includes ice breakers, self-awareness activities, group initiatives, teambuilding, and adventure activities. The activities are designed to offer intentional opportunities for teamwork, communication, trust, and cooperation. The program incorporates unusual group initiative, problem solving, and individual activities that give participants opportunities to examine their strengths, weaknesses, level of commitment, ability to work within the group, and decision making process.
For the group initiative and teambuilding activities, staff facilitators present a challenge to the group. The group must decide on a plan and work as a team, in order to successfully complete assigned tasks. Trained facilitators will observe the behaviors, actions, comments and methods of the group members. Upon completion of each activity, facilitators will help the group analyze their experience with a focus on participation, commitment, cooperation, and communication. Processing the experience in this manner allows group members to recognize strengths and weaknesses, examine personal behavior patterns, and evaluate their problem solving skills. By processing the total experience, trained staff facilitators help participants develop strategies for using new skills when dealing with similar situations on the job and at home. Groups should plan on a minimum of two hours for the Teambuilding and Low Ropes segment.
For those seeking a greater sense of understanding, support, and ooperation among group members, Camp Coleman provides a state-of-the-art High Ropes Course. The high ropes course incorporates activities designed to foster support, encouragement, trust, communication, confidence, and cooperation among group members. The course includes a three-sided climbing tower with Climbing Wall, Giant’s Ladder, and rappelling. A number of traverse activities including the Cat Walk, Burma Bridge, Multi-line Traverse, and Pipeline encourage participants to move beyond their normal comfort zone to explore individual capabilities. The Zip Line and Giant Swing are just plain FUN – a real adrenaline rush that offers the opportunity for participants to explore their own inclination to act. Groups should plan on a minimum of 2-½ to 3 hours for the High Ropes component.
Ropes Course Safety
Ropes Course activities are conducted according to standards established by the Association for Challenge Course Technology. For more information, go to www.acctinfo.org. Statistics show that ropes courses are five times safer than regular school physical education programs. This safety record is accomplished through the use of safety measures and procedures on low and high ropes elements. For low ropes, facilitators follow strict written operating procedures and activities are sequenced to build necessary skills. Participants are trained in active spotting techniques and supervised closely to insure attentive, diligent spotting. Use of a belay system (safety line) and helmet are mandatory on the climbing wall and all high elements. Harnesses, ropes, belay systems, and equipment are inspected daily and all ropes course activities are supervised by qualified instructors who have attended specialized ropes course training.
The ropes course requires active involvement and physical exertion - minor bumps, scrapes and bruises are a common consequence of enthusiastic, committed participation. Activity areas are equipped with a stocked First Aid kit and Camp Coleman staff is currently certified in American Red Cross First Aid & CPR. Staff is trained to implement the site-specific operating procedures and emergency response plan for each activity area. | <urn:uuid:86249560-cecf-42bb-b6b0-f68280f3f6a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://girlscoutsnca.org/camps/camp-coleman/ropes-course/team-building | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9342 | 913 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Reading "The Collected Stories of Isaac Babel" (W. Norton & Co., 2002) in paperback, edited by Babel's daughter, Nathalie, got me thinking about Jewish gangsters and tough guys.
Babel was born in Odessa in 1894. He wrote of Odessa's Jewish underworld and its gangsters in sparkling prose. Fifty years before Mario Puzo gave us "The Godfather," Babel offered up Benya Krik. Benya, Babel tells us, had "gangster chic" -- a century before Tupac took the stage. Babel's Odessa was home to a universe of Jewish murderers, pimps and crooks. Before there was 50 Cent, Babel wrote of a millionaire named "Yid and a half." | <urn:uuid:e3efbcbc-b3d3-4ae8-92df-05cba7eb9566> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jewishjournal.com/tag/edited | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961637 | 154 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Testbed for Radio 4, 28 June 1999 to 1 July 2003 (25 episodes in 4 series)
Quiz about radio history, contested by two teams of two mostly comprising radio personalities.
While the format generally consisted of open rounds of questions pointed to either team based on a piece of archive, there were a couple of formatted rounds that made a regular appearance. The Radio Jigsaw invited the teams to put together three or four different pieces of clippage in the right order so that the name of something (e.g. a celebrity, film, book) was formed when said out loud. In a later round, three unlikely-sounding radio news stories were read out by an announcer and the team had to identify which one was true, with the clip later heard as proof. Oh, and the obligatory on-the-buzzer round completed the proceedings.
As a radio producer himself, David Hatch knew when to keep the pace going and the laughs coming, although perhaps it didn't get more series because it sounded like a 1980s show repeated 20 years later. | <urn:uuid:d1beb39b-0367-4cd7-abdf-a535137d3c9e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ukgameshows.com/ukgs/Wireless_Wise | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982832 | 217 | 1.539063 | 2 |
In the Press
Phoenicia Hotel Guest donates stunning antique filigree necklace to Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti.
Ms. Vanessa Pearson of London, a guest at the 5-star Phoenicia Hotel at the entrance to Valletta, presented Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti (FPM) with a beautiful and highly artistic silver filigree necklace with pendant cross.
Phoenicia's guest, Ms. Pearson was inspired to donate her necklace after hotel staff discovered her passionate interest in jewellery and recommended that she visit Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti's exhibition 'Vanity, Profanity & Worship: Jewellery from the Maltese Islands' on view at the Casino Maltese and featured on the Phoenicia's website. Pearson recounted how this necklace came down to her through the family and she believes that it originally belonged to her great grandmother, Elizabeth Bellingham, who was an Irish Catholic and was born in 1854, and who is believed to have visited Malta with her husband Captain John Augustin Keeshan of the late 69th Regiment (The South Lincolnshire Regiment) and probably purchased the necklace then.
The design of the donated necklace is intriguing as it is made of silver filigree fashioned into large links of hollow tubular shape, which is atypical of Maltese designs. What links this particular necklace to Malta, apart from its reported provenance, is that a few others are known in Malta. These include two necklaces which belong to private collections, one of which is currently on display in the jewellery exhibition at the Casino Maltese and another which belongs to Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum.
Unfortunately, none of the necklaces examined bear hallmarks and this makes it harder to establish an accurate date and origin for these pieces however the working hypothesis is that these necklaces are probably Maltese, perhaps made by the same maker and date to the 19th century. An almost identical necklace is currently on display in the Devonshire Collection at Chatsworth, Derbyshire, UK and although its provenance is also not known, it has been suggested that the necklace may have been originally purchased by the 6th Duke, when in Malta in 1839/40. Award-winning author and Palazzo Falson Museum Curator Francesca Balzan, who is an expert in antique jewellery says, "The Pearson necklace provides a valuable link in investigating the origins of these types of necklaces and is an artefact of artistic relevance in its own right."
Maltese filigree was particularly sought after in the 19th century. It was highly regarded by visitors to Malta and the Maltese alike who sought to acquire a piece of filigree as it was both fashionable and considered to be a typical craft of the Maltese Islands, appreciated for its beauty and intricacy and rivaling even Genovese filigree to which it is indebted in design and probably in origin too. The English word filigree is shortened from the earlier use of filigreen which derives from Latin "filum" meaning thread or wire and "granum" grain, which connotes a small bead.
The long and intricate process of filigree production begins with melting silver which is later drawn into wires of different gauges required for the production of even the seemingly simplest types of filigree jewellery. This dainty "cord" gives filigree its name, since filigree is a delicate kind of jewellery metalwork, usually of gold or silver, made with twisted threads and arranged in artistic motifs. Its design recalls that of lace, which has also been a popular artisan product across the Maltese Islands.
FPM, is a non-profit making organisation with the aim of spreading awareness of the island's extensive heritage locally and internationally, through museums, exhibitions and publications. It has to date organised eleven major exhibitions including the exhibition 'Vanity, Profanity & Worship: Jewellery from the Maltese Islands', which is currently running until the 26th May. FPM also manages Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum which co-incidentally counts an almost identical silver filigree necklace amongst its collections. The necklace donated by Ms Pearson will be kept at Palazzo Falson in the reserve collection but will be available for on-site inspection and examination upon request, by bona fide researchers. Phoenicia Hotel is a patron of FPM. | <urn:uuid:11aa15fa-324b-4239-a016-9b020b38ec19> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.phoeniciamalta.com/content.aspx?id=79019 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96848 | 913 | 1.671875 | 2 |
The internet trends of recent years are going WEB 2.0. What is WEB 2.0? You can read about it in Wikipedia or you may follow this article where I will try to explain it in my own words. WEB 2.0 is the part of internet content submitted by ordinary people rather than paid journalists, public relations agents, copywriters or scholars. People submit such information as comments, Tweets, pictures, videos, PowerPoint presentations, their own writings in PDF format, blogs, diaries, interesting links that they share etc. Web 2.0 is not only about creating information. It is also about delivering it to the reader's eyes. People may now access information not only from search engines, but also from RSS feeds, Email subscriptions, Twitter followers and friends who share their links on Delicious or Digg. People can receive information and spread it to others using badges (Twitter badge, Flickr recent photos badge etc.) and applications in various social networks. Facebook, mySpace, LinkedIn are the perfect places for sharing the information created in Blogger, Wordpress or found via Delicious, Mixx, Yahoo! Buzz, Digg etc.
This blog is named Poker 2.0. Why? I am going to write about social networks and poker, because people submit so much unique information about their passion - hand transcripts, screenshots of their winings at the online poker rooms, bad beats, photos from their home games, mobile photos and videos from poker tournaments (some of them can be illegal and shot from the sleeve). There are so many poker pros who share their experience in blogs or videoblogs. Some of them have even launched a webTV or a series of coaching videos. The internet is full of dramatic poker videos from live tournaments and funny collages of the most popular poker players. This variety of information is scattered around so I will try to collect the most interesting pieces. | <urn:uuid:687df6e0-648d-4468-9f0e-0ab754f81193> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.onlinepoker20.com/tags/tools | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942685 | 385 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Annual Report 200102/01/2002
- 1. Introduction
- 2.1 Priorities of Inspections Performed in 2001
- 2.2 Overall Surveys of Results of Control
- 2.3 Results of Controls of the Microbiological Requirements
- 2.4 Results of Analyses for Contaminants
- 2.5 Controls of Labelling and Quality
- 2.6 Thematic and Extraordinary Inspections
- 2.6.1 Inspections focusing on food safety
- 2.6.2 Inspections focused on adulterations
- 2.6.3 Complex and other inspections
- 2.7 Inspections in production
- 2.8 Inspections in trade network
- 2.9 Suggestions
- 2.10 Penalties
- 3 Laboratory Activities
- 4 Certification Activities
- 5 Internal Information System
- 6 Personnel Training
- 7 Activities in the Field of Legislation
- 8 Cooperation with Other Authorities and Institutions
- 9 International Relations
- 10 Public Relations
- 11 Conclusion
- 12 Abbreviations and Explanations
Fruit and vegetables in big shopping chains and in some selected retail establishments
The purpose of this extensive control activity focusing on food quality, safety and labelling was to obtain an impartial picture about the condition and standard of sales of fresh vegetables and fruit.
The inspection took place in the most important shopping centres operating nation-wide and locally. In total, 38 entities were inspected, of which 14 operating almost all over the territory of the Czech Republic, and 24 inspected entities operating locally.
The inspectors checked on 13,974 batches of fresh fruit and vegetables in 415 retail establishments, of which 1,950 batches, i.e. 14.0 % were evaluated as nonconforming. With view to a considerable extent of the inspected batches such a share of nonconforming batches can be considered an impartial assessment of the quality of the fresh fruit and vegetables distributed by the most important shopping centres.
Foodstuffs for sportsmen
This inspection applied to foodstuffs intended for special nutrition of sportsmen that are distributed in fit-centres and specialised shops selling goods for sportsmen. In the course of the inspection altogether 1,349 foodstuffs were inspected in 77 establishments.
The scope of the inspection was to find out whether the products in circulation are provided with an issued valid approval of the Ministry of Health, whether they are distributed packed only, or whether the dealers adhere to the hygienic requirements for the selling of food and whether labelling of these foodstuffs complies with the rules and regulations.
The total of 195 samples were evaluated as nonconforming, which represents 14.5 % of the evaluated total number. The most frequently occurring non-conformances were: non-existence of the valid approval of the Ministry of Health, data on the label were not translated in Czech or were incomplete. The hygienic requirements were not infringed in any of the cases.
Occurrence of the genetically modified DNA in foodstuffs and raw materials containing soya
Objective of this inspection was to identify, using the PCR method, to what extent the food and raw materials containing the genetically modified DNA are released into circulation. If a particular foodstuff contains the genetically modified DNA, it is classified as novel food and subjects to a special regime of releasing food into circulation, in accordance with the Food Law.
The total of 20 samples of foodstuffs and raw materials were analysed. The modified DNA was detected in 5 food samples and 2 samples of raw materials, which means that either a genetically modified raw material was used in their manufacturing or the raw material was contaminated with the modified substance in the production process. The inspection proved that at present a significant number of foods containing the genetically modified DNA are released into circulation.
In 2001, it was enough to obtain an approval of the Ministry of Health for releasing the foods into circulation, whereas starting from January 1, 2002 the novel food has to be labelled in compliance with the relevant regulation.
This inspection focused mainly on sour soy products, tofu, soy mayonnaise, tempeh, soy drinks and soy instant drinks. The objective was to verify the system of critical points in the producers of soy food, as this food represents an increased risk from the perspective of infringement of food safety regulations, and to analyse the microbiological and quality requirements.
In the course of this action the total of 14 manufacturers of soy products were inspected and in 5 cases the samples were taken in the market network. Out of the total of 68 samples taken, 25 samples did not comply with the microbiological or analytical requirements or requirements for labelling, which is 36.8 %.
Sparkling and fizzy wines
Inspections focused on sparkling and fizzy wines both of domestic and foreign origin released into circulation in the period before Christmas. The objective was to control the food safety, quality and labelling, including potential adulterations.
Altogether 58 samples were tested, of which 32 samples did not comply with the set standards, most often due to the nonconforming sugar-free extract. No case of food safety infringement was identified. The inspection proved that mainly sparkling wines of the small and unknown producers represent a risk.
Quality wines - registration, invoices and mercantile papers
This inspection focused on the sellers and producers of quality wines. The main objective was to identify whether consumers are not deceived due to the fact that wines not valuated or classified by the Expert Commission at the Ministry of Agriculture, assigned to do the evaluation and classification of wines, are described as quality wines. The inspection took place in 105 sellers, 92 producers (of which 83 producers from the Moravian regions and 9 producers from Bohemian regions) and in 2 distributors. Non-conformances were identified only in a few isolated cases.
Quality of table potatoes from late harvest
The purpose of this inspection was to assess the condition of table potatoes from late harvest put into circulation by the producers and small retailers, and to remove the non-conformances. In accordance with the initial suggestions obtained in January and February 2001, this commodity did not comply with the set requirements to a great deal.
Altogether 441 batches of table potatoes from late harvest were inspected, of which 201 batches did not comply with the legal regulations, i.e. 45.6 %. Among the most important non-conformances identified prevailed those occurring in the potato flesh (i.e. colour changes to the flesh) - growing grey almost black - that were identified in 131 batches, i.e. in 29.7 %, of the total number of batches inspected. | <urn:uuid:19d68213-0e84-4b01-8111-f318a2be8e83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.szpi.gov.cz/en/docDetail.aspx?docid=1004739&docType=ART&nid=11877&chnum=10 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955309 | 1,364 | 1.523438 | 2 |
This is a syndicated post from CNA Daily News. [Read the original article...]
Rome, Italy, Nov 15, 2012 / 03:50 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In honor of the Year of Faith, pilgrims to Rome can now share their thoughts about the gift of faith by writing them on a special scroll at the Vatican’s Pilgrim Office.
“Since it's the Year of Faith people are going to live intense experiences of faith,” said the office’s director, Father Cesare Atuire, after the scroll’s Nov. 15 debut. “So we've decided to create this initiative whereby people can actually leave something written down – their thoughts, their emotions, concerning what their faith really means for them.”
Those entries that the Pilgrim Office deems the most inspiring will be posted on a blog associated with it, www.jospers.travel. Fr. Atuire hopes this will “create a mini community whereby we really share our experience of faith.”
Designed by New York architect Isabella Mancini, the Faith Scroll can be found in the pilgrim office, which is located just west of St. Peter’s Square.
The box-like structure with the scroll on top also features a slot for pilgrims’ prayer intentions. These will be collected, read and prayed over at a Mass each month in St. Peter's Basilica during the Year of Faith.
The office will feature clips on YouTube so that people can see the moment when Mass is being celebrated for their intentions.
“This is a new experience in order to communicate our faith,” said Archbishop Rino Fisichella of the Pontical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.
He hopes it will assist pilgrims in developing a truly “universal Catholic experience of the faith.”
One of the first to sign the scroll, Archbishop Fisichella wrote, “faith is the answer, not one of the answers” to the meaning of life, allowing for “a personal encounter with Jesus Christ, the son of God.”
Another signatory, who signed the scroll as Rosamaria Mancini of New York, simply wrote that “Faith is hope, and it’s what helps me move forward each day.”
A source of information for visitors to Rome, the Vatican’s Pilgrim Office also promotes and facilitates pilgrimages to Rome, Marian shrines in Europe and the Holy Land.
Incoming search terms:
- Youtube - Mancini | <urn:uuid:c7136107-3250-4306-b645-c019e8d5e4b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dfwcatholic.org/vatican-office-unveils-faith-scroll-for-pilgrims-51410/.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931796 | 538 | 1.679688 | 2 |
- Moscow against leading role in Libyan mediation says foreign minister
- Russia ready to mediate Libya solution - envoy
- Moscow alarmed over NATO's disproportionate use of force in Libya - vice-premier
- NATO strikes on Libya amount to land operation - Moscow
Libyan rebels have invited Russia to open an information mission in Benghazi, Russia's special envoy to Africa Mikhail Margelov said on Wednesday.
Margelov, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian parliament's upper house, held talks with Libya's opposition Transitional National Council (TNC) in rebel-held Benghazi on Tuesday.
"I reported to Moscow to the president [Dmitry Medvedev] about the proposal, which was made by the Transitional National Council, to open an information mission, or a mission on contacts and relationships," Margelov said. "Decisions of this kind in our country are made by the president, so we'll wait for a decision."
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced Margelov's visit during the G8 summit in Deauville in France last month.
The Libyan opposition thanked Russia for not imposing a veto on the UN Security Council resolution on Libya.
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution imposing a no-fly zone over Libya on March 17, paving the way for a military operation against embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi which began two days later. The command of the operation was shifted from a U.S.-led international coalition to NATO in late March.
Last week, NATO extended its mission in Libya by 90 days. The coalition intervened in the North African country in March under a UN mandate to protect civilians against forces loyal to Col. Muammar Gaddafi.
Rebels control much of Libya's east, but Gaddafi's forces retain control of most of the west of the country.
CAIRO, June 8 (RIA Novosti)
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The failure of the Islamist political parties who came to power in the dramatic events of the Arab Spring would allow the military to reenter the political arena. Political Islam was successful in the opposition, but it could fail in power, as the negative experience of Egypt and Iraq have shown. | <urn:uuid:8981a88b-c4a5-4b54-afd3-8e194966e1c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.rian.ru/world/20110608/164511285.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939168 | 494 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Why didn’t CNN’s international arm air its own documentary on Bahrain’s Arab Spring repression?
A former CNN correspondent defies threats from her former employer to speak out about self-censorship at the network
- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 4 September 2012 15.01 EDT
In late March 2011, as the Arab Spring was spreading, CNN sent a four-person crew to Bahrain to produce a one-hour documentary on the use of internet technologies and social media by democracy activists in the region. Featuring on-air investigative correspondent Amber Lyon, the CNN team had a very eventful eight-day stay in that small, US-backed kingdom.
By the time the CNN crew arrived, many of the sources who had agreed to speak to them were either in hiding or had disappeared. Regime opponents whom they interviewed suffered recriminations, as did ordinary citizens who worked with them as fixers. Leading human rights activist Nabeel Rajab was charged with crimes shortly after speaking to the CNN team. A doctor who gave the crew a tour of his village and arranged meetings with government opponents, Saeed Ayyad, had his house burned to the ground shortly after. Their local fixer was fired ten days after working with them.
The CNN crew itself was violently detained by regime agents in front of Rajab’s house. As they described it after returning to the US, “20 heavily-armed men”, whose faces were “covered with black ski masks”, “jumped from military vehicles”, and then “pointed machine guns at” the journalists, forcing them to the ground. The regime’s security forces seized their cameras and deleted their photos and video footage, and then detained and interrogated them for the next six hours.
Lyon’s experience both shocked and emboldened her. The morning after her detention, newspapers in Bahrain prominently featured articles about the incident containing what she said were “outright fabrications” from the government. “It made clear just how willing the regime is to lie,” she told me in a phone interview last week.
But she also resolved to expose just how abusive and thuggish the regime had become in attempting to snuff out the burgeoning democracy movement, along with any negative coverage of the government.
“I realized there was a correlation between the amount of media attention activists receive and the regime’s ability to harm them, so I felt an obligation to show the world what our sources, who risked their lives to talk to us, were facing.”
CNN’s total cost for the documentary, ultimately titled “iRevolution: Online Warriors of the Arab Spring”, was in excess of $100,000, an unusually high amount for a one-hour program of this type. The portion Lyon and her team produced on Bahrain ended up as a 13-minute segment in the documentary. That segment, which as of now is available on YouTube, is a hard-hitting and unflinching piece of reporting that depicts the regime in a very negative light.
Amber Lyon on CNN, commenting on the March 2011 repression in Bahrain
Amber Lyon’s iRevolution documentaries Egypt, Bahrain, Tunisia, …
Dictators Sponsor CNN | Interview with Amber Lyon
Published on Oct 3, 2012
Abby Interviews former CNN Investigative Journalist, Amber Lyon, about CNN’s corrupt media empire, calling into question a media establishment where censorship can be bought.
Former CNN Reporter (Amber Lyon) threatened & silenced by CNN reveals CNN Lies & War Propaganda
Published on Oct 9, 2012
‘Real Arab Spring in Bahrain which West ignores’
Published on Aug 16, 2012
Bahraini Human rights activist Nabeel Rajab has been sentenced to three years in jail for “participation in an illegal assembly” and “calling for a march without prior notification.” – READ MORE http://on.rt.com/y95tqy
Patrick Henningsen, who’s a geopolitical analyst, believes human rights chaos in Bahrain is beneficial for Western states.
Bahrain uprising anniversary: Worst clashes in months
Published on Feb 14, 2013
http://www.euronews.com/ Two years after their Arab Spring uprising against Bahrain’s ruling family, protesters have been back on the streets in what they said was a day of civil disobedience.
Security forces fired warning shots to try to disperse a crowd of youths gathered in a village near the capital Manama.
They killed a teenager and several others were injured during the most violent clashes in months.
Thousands of people were arrested during the first uprising in early 2011. Dozens of political prisoners are still in jail.
Of those originally detained, seven prisoners have been interviewed by Amnesty International at Bahrain’s Jaw prison.
All of them say they’ve been jailed on false charges or under laws that repress basic rights. Many were allegedly tortured in the first weeks of their arrests.
Human rights groups also claim security forces used excessive force two years ago.
Bahrain Shouting in the dark البحرين تصرخ في الظلام
Uploaded on Aug 4, 2011
Bahrain: An island kingdom in the Arabian Gulf where the Shia Muslim majority are ruled by a family from the Sunni minority. Where people fighting for democratic rights broke the barriers of fear, only to find themselves alone and crushed.
This is their story and Al Jazeera is their witness – the only TV journalists who remained to follow their journey of hope to the carnage that followed.
This is the Arab revolution that was abandoned by the Arabs, forsaken by the West and forgotten by the world.
Shouting in the dark can be seen from Thursday, August 4, at the following times GMT: Thursday: 2000; Friday: 1200; Saturday: 0100; Sunday: 0600; Monday: 2000; Tuesday: 1200; Wednesday: 0100; Thursday: 0600.
- Full report of observer mission to trial of Nabeel Rajab in Bahrain now available (thoolen.wordpress.com)
- Free Bahraini political prisoners, petition for Obama (dogmaandgeopolitics.wordpress.com)
- Bahrain regime keeps killing (familysurvivalprotocol.com)
- Bahrain urged to release prisoners (bbc.co.uk)
- Russia must be careful on Bahrain, Syria (dissidentvoice.org)
- Saudi Arabia and Bahrain: the Arab springs mainstream media chose to minimise (deliberation.info)
- Bahrain As I Remember It (jadaliyya.com)
- The US Has Sold Bahrain’s Government A Bunch Of Weapons During Its Brutal Crackdown (businessinsider.com)
- Bahrain court upholds activists’ sentences (upi.com)
- ‘No change in Bahrain as Al Khalifa rules’ (familysurvivalprotocol.com)
- KnowTooMuch: Breaking News – The Obama Administration pays for CNN content ( Political Crazyness.com ) | <urn:uuid:a9aa28ad-176d-4d2c-afc3-9103e2ba939a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://familysurvivalprotocol.com/tag/youtube/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95355 | 1,483 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Tags: aches, arthritis, diagnosis, doctor, general practitioner, GP, pain, patient access, practice manager, RA, referal, RF test, Rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatology
According to the Management in Practice website , which is a website for GP practice managers, the delay in getting patients proper rheumatoid arthritis treatment is the same as it was seven years ago. I suppose we should be grateful it hasn’t got worse!
Worryingly, to my mind, they say, “The Commons Public Accounts Committee has revealed that patients could suffer damage to their heart and lungs if access to treatment is delayed.” Well I have two things to say on that point. Firstly it’s not exactly a ‘revelation’ by the Commons Public Accounts Committee, but that’s more of a personal gripe about writing style than anything. More fundamentally there appears to be no recognition that patients could suffer permanent joint damage and a drastic reduction of quality of life if access to treatment is delayed. It’s as though ‘heart’ is the magic buzzword – if you put ‘heart’ in your article, at least when it comes to GPs who are forced to be target driven and probably have a big government target about reducing heart disease right now, then people might take action!
Mind you, they say that the average number of visits to a GP is four, before a patient is referred on to a specialist, and blame this on a lack of GP training. I would have thought that wasn’t soooo bad. It is hard to diagnose. It does vary enormously between patients. And it is possible to show symptoms that appear to be RA and then disappear – it happened to a good friend of mine. So I would have thought that an average of three visits (maybe not four) and attempts at less drastic treatment like ‘take Neurofen’ would not be unreasonable. I was very lucky – I had two visits before my referral and the GP spotted immediately that it might be RA and organised a blood test on the first visit. However if I’d been seronegative (negative RF test) then I shudder to think how long it might have taken!
Apparently, according to the same article on the same Commons report, “GPs receive on average only two hours of teaching on musculoskeletal conditions during their training, including minimal coverage of inflammatory arthritis.” I have to say I find that hard to believe, but if it’s true then it’s pretty scary, and it might explain why it’s taking 6-9 months to get people referred.
They also say that there’s a lack of awareness among the public of what symptoms to look for. I’m sure that’s true, and that does stop people going to pester their doctor when they have intermittent pain, but I suspect another thing that stops people going to see their GP is the difficulty in getting an appointment in the first place! But that’s another story for another post on another day …
Tags: course, courses, employment, employment and RA, free, national rheumatoid arthritis society, NRAS, RA, RA and employment
NRAS (the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society) are running a series of 10 UK based events helping those with RA to keep working. The workshops will be held throughout 2010 in cities all across the UK. They’re open to anyone with RA and they’re free. Each workshop will allow you to get information about talking to their employer and colleagues about RA, including:
- sharing practical tips based on real-life experience
- talking to experts, from employment lawyers to occupational therapists
- finding out more about what disability law means for you
- finding out more about handling your RA treatment and work commitments
The workshops will be held in:
- London 24th February; Bristol 10th March;
- Cardiff 11th March;
- Manchester 18th May;
- Birmingham 19th May;
- Nottingham 20th May;
- Glasgow 22nd June;
- Londonderry 23rd June;
- Portsmouth 7th July;
- Reading 28th September.
(I don’t know what time of day – ring them and find out!)
What a surprise, there’s nothing in East Anglia. There never is. Come on guys. We’re a big bulge on the side of little ol’ England with FOUR counties in it that you’re not represented in! And yet Reading, an easy, no-changes 20 minute train ride from London, has a course! OK, whine over, back to publicising NRAS, whom I have a VERY high regard for! Maybe I’ll go the Reading one as I have friends nearby. (Yes, Maggie, that’s a hint.)
Registration is happening now, so to register or to find out more, ring them on 0845 458 3969 or visit http://www.nras.org.uk to register on line.
Tags: birthday, consultant, flare, occupational therapy, OT, physio, physiotherapy, RA, RA flare, Rheumatoid arthritis
At last I’m on my way out of a rather prolonged flare! While I’m sure that my consultant would be pleased to point out that it wasn’t much of a flare – I mean I didn’t even need a steroid shot – it was quite enough of one for me, thank you!
I had a very good birthday this year, in spite of being in the middle of the flare. Hubby had the day off too, which he doesn’t often manage, or at least not to coincide with mine, and we had a leisurely morning in Norwich including a trip to the Castle Museum and lunch at ‘The Waffle House’. Because of the whole flare thing we decided to come straight after an early lunch and I spent the afternoon lounging around in bed reading some of the many great books (mostly embroidery-related) that I’d got for presents, before heading off to Mum’s for a yummy meal in the evening. While I’d have liked to have been able to DO more on my birthday, it was still a jolly good day!
I suppose at least I’m finally learning to pace myself. Talking of which, the OT is NOT in my good books at the moment. I drove for forty minutes in stinking traffic through rain and hail and sleet and snow and fog (and semi-darkness for part of it) to get to my OT appointment only to be told, ‘She’s gone home’. Luckily for both of us I suppose a) I like her and b) I know she wouldn’t do that deliberately and c) she phoned and apologised profusely this morning.
I told her she could make it up to me by fitting me in between physio and a hair appointment next week, which she is doing. I shall come away feeling thoroughly pampered after all that: not quite a luxury spa treatment, and believe me, our local hospital doesn’t bear much resemblance to a luxury spa, but the closest I’m likely to get to one for a while!
Tags: arthritis, diagnosis, occupational therapist, OT, pain, R.A., RA, rhematoid arthritis, rheumatoid, Rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
Is it me, or do others with rheumatoid arthritis see RA possibilities everywhere? I’ve told my bro, who has had neck pain for years and gets inflamed knuckles, that he really should get an RA test, even though it’s incredibly unlikely in a lad his age. (Unlikely but not impossible, as Rhuematoid Arthritis Guy can testify, and not an unreasonable suggestion given that he’s my brother and we do have family with RA.
However, it starts to get a bit silly when you’re sitting chatting to someone and start thinking ‘ooh, they get stiff in the mornings; could be RA.’ Well yeah, I have to remind myself, but when they say stiff they probably mean their muscles ache a bit because they went jogging last night, not that they can’t move their joints. But then again, RA is notoriously hard to diagnose, so when you’re sitting in the OT’s room chatting to another patient who is being treated for ‘carpel tunnel syndrome’ in both wrists, has been referred to the podiatrist because of pain in both feet, finds it hard to grip the steering wheel for any length of time, gets ‘dead arms’ in the middle of the night just like I do and finds it difficult to be a passenger even in the car for long journeys because when she gets out she’s ‘stiff all over’ … oh yes, and this all started with ‘the change’ … you can’t help wondering, can you? Or can you? Is it just me?
It’s hard to keep your mouth shut sometimes, but I managed it. For all I know she’s been thoroughly tested for it and hasn’t got it, but I couldn’t ask; I’d never even met her before that day. It makes me wonder even more because when I was diagnosed with RA I’d gone to the doctor saying, ‘Help – I think I’ve got carpel tunnel syndrome!’
I suppose I shall never know, and I really hope I’m barking up the wrong tree altogether, for her sake … but I can’t help wondering. Am I being silly?
Tags: birthday, flare, pain, Rheumatoid arthritis
Two days until my birthday and I’m right in the middle of a flare! On the bright side (which is what this blog is all about, although I have to remind myself of that right now), I’ve got most of a day off tomorrow and a full day off on Tuesday, and mum cooking dinner for us Tuesday night (chopped liver to start (sounds disgusting, ISN’T!), roast chicken and trimmings, and a naughty surprise desert have been requested).
Hubby has the day off on Tuesday, which makes a nice change. I just hope I feel up to doing something nice with the day!
Also my birthday starts early – Today Weeny, she of the not-so-great sympathy skills, and her hubby are taking us out to lunch. Pressies are piling up on the table downstairs and looking festive, ocassional bits of sunshine are peeping out through the gloom and the forecast for Tuesday is pretty good, so the outlook’s not as bad as it could be in spite of the various creaks and groans eminating from the penguin (and from hubby at having to listen to me creaking!)
Tags: arthritis, blood test, doctor, health insurance, predictive test, R.A., RA, rhematoid arthritis, Rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), rheumatology
Apparently a simple blood test could predict RA years before symptoms appear. Now this could be a great thing – it could mean that in families where RA is known to be prevalent doctors could test those not yet showing symptoms and then keep a special eye on anyone who tests positive, to make sure they’re diagnosed as soon as symptoms start to appear, and treated accordingly. (I say in families where RA is prevalent because I can’t see it becoming a standard test that everyone receives, like TB used to be in this country.)
However, I can also see problems. One problem is that any test can be overly relied upon. I’d put money on it that if they’d tested me I would have come back negative, since my symptoms even now are so mild and my RF test result was so low (although positive … just…) Another problem is one that rears its ugly head almost any time such tests are mentioned … although oddly The Telegraph seem to have missed a trick this time in not mentioning it. It’s not great from a health insurance point of view, is it? Or rather it’s fantastic from a health insurers point of view. They just need to insist anyone they take on is tested first – if you’re positive, ‘We’ll insure you for anything except rheumatoid arthritis …’ Can’t you just see this one coming? | <urn:uuid:bfdfb1f4-cfe9-406c-9136-ec7c6bf1f620> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pollyannapenguin.wordpress.com/2010/02/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959692 | 2,671 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Posted 11 months ago on June 11, 2012, 7:13 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Starting at Bryant Park, OWS Summer Disobedience School presents the issue of student debt in front the Bank of America Tower, in front of the I.R.S under the National Debt Clock, and in the fountain on 6th Avenue opposite Radio City Music Hall. The school day concludes with "The People's Alarm" in Times Square.
Once more, the EU has decided to use public funds to cover the losses of private institutions. This time, Spain is asking for a bail out in order to recapitalize it's banking system. We know for certain that the banks are not going to pay back this capital injection and in the end it will be the taxpayers (it doesn't matter whether European or Spanish) that pay for the financial system's greed. Politicians are playing with the future of fellow European citizens in order to increase their popularity at home, entering in a loss-loss game. Under the false allegation that governments are defending their national interests they are pointing fingers at other countries. In reality, Merkel&Co are not defending the German people, Merkel is defending the interest of German investors even if German taxpayers are forced to pay the bill.
Spain's public debt is lower than the average public debt of European countries. However, the private banks owe 300% of the Spanish GDP to private foreign investors. It's important to recall that this private debt is held by financial institutions an not by citizens. Most of the creditor financial institutions were banks that used financial engineering (like subprime and dodgy derivates products) to increase their lending capacity. The real state bubble was possible thanks to abundant credit and the passivity of regulators (such as the BCE, the Bank of Spain, etc), regulators that are not democraticly accountable. If Spain was organizing a house party, foreign investors would be paying the alcohol tab. Now, imagine that you get a mortage 3 times the value of your house, who carries the risk of nonpayment? A question that should have been answered before the mortgage was sold.
Due to the irresponsability of the Spanish banks, the European banks, their accomplices the European Central Bank as well as European and national supervisors and regulators this crisis has unfolded. Meanwhile European governments aren't attending to the real needs of their people and are dictating a shift in the social model without the citizens have not been able to express about. When governments defend the interests of private institutions against the wellbeing of it's people, it is time for us, the citizens, to rise up and defend ourselves!
Four years after the beginning of the crisis, it is clear that this is not an economic crisis, this is a political crisis. And this is not a Spanish crisis, its a European crisis. We need to say Basta! and demand that our governments do their job and defend our interests. There are alternatives. Iceland used public money only to warranty deposit and let all irresponsible banks fall. The government, the central bank and the national regulator are being tried by the justice. Icelandic people decided not to pay private debt with public money and created a new constitution to prevent this happening again. Currently their economy is growing at three times the rate the EU is.
Join us on Monday at 18h and call for a demonstration in your city. We will be protesting in Brussels in front of the European Commission. Bring your pots, pans, and spoons, we are going to be loud!!!
Posted 11 months ago on June 10, 2012, 10:02 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
I feel like I probably saw and was in the middle of only a fraction of all the tides of popular protests against the Grand Prix tonight. But to likely understate it, the police (SPVM to SQ) totally lost control and the people totally held the streets. And as one person said to us on the streets as riot cops swarmed by us for the umpteenth time–after about the umpteenth time that nearly everyone (and by nearly everyone, I mean an eclectic mix of thousands and thousands of people, many dressed in fancy Saturday night party clothes, far from “the usual suspects” and not a black bloc in sight) pushed the police back or for all intents and purposes kettled the cops, and after the many umpteenth times that nearly everyone booed at and many threw plastic bottles (or a beach ball) at the police–there’s a universal language on the streets this evening, and it’s “fuck the police.” Read More... | <urn:uuid:d6d0f9a0-c9a8-43e7-a30d-f5a9f1b94721> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.occupywallst.org/archive/Jun-11-2012/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967982 | 944 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Iran Parliament Approves Tough New Press Measures
Iran's outgoing conservative parliament on Monday approved a series of tough new measures against the press amid a renewed crackdown on pro-reform newspapers and journalists.
The measures give conservatives new controls over papers and magazines and come just a day after Iran's Revolutionary Guards, a pillar of the Islamic regime, issued a dark warning to the increasingly bold pro-reform press.
MPs approved several articles of a stringent press bill whose approval in a draft reading last year helped spark student protests that erupted in six days of deadly riots, the worst unrest here since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Among other restrictions, the new measures would require all newspaper licences to be approved by the intelligence ministry, the courts and the police -- all strongholds of the regime's conservatives.
Licences had previously been issued by the culture ministry, which is led by Ataollah Mohajerani, a close pro-reform ally of President Mohammad Khatami.
Conservatives have repeatedly called for Mohajerani to step down or be sacked as the press has become sharper and more brazen in its attacks on the regime since Khatami's 1997 election.
The new rules also stipulate that the press commission must be "faithful to the Islamic revolution." Charges of spreading anti-Islamic propaganda have been used to jail leading journalists in recent months.
Parliament -- which is winding down its term as a new reform-majority legislature prepares to take office in May -- also expanded the scope of culpability in press offences.
Under the new measures, individual journalists and others involved in the publication of material deemed offensive or illegal can be hauled before the courts. Current law holds only newspaper directors responsible.
Last week parliament passed other measures in the omnibus bill, including an article giving the state security court the power to close down any newspaper immediately for a two-month period.
Conservative MPs have said the bill is designed to combat newspapers and journalists who "violate the values and principles of the Islamic republic."
Even if the new parliament, as is likely, overturns many of the measures, Monday's vote indicates the growing pressure being placed on the freedom of the press -- a cornerstone of Khatami's social and political reforms.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards, an elite force under the direct command of supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a strongly worded warning to the reform press on Sunday.
It accused newspapers, editors and even politicians of defending "US-style" -- that is, secular -- reforms in Iran and hinted darkly that a backlash against the movement was on the way.
"When the time comes, these people will feel a blow to the head delivered by the revolution," the Guards said in a statement that was carried by state radio.
They accused papers of writing articles "along the lines of foreign demands" and "attacking the values of the revolution."
The press has been a regular battleground for competing conservative and reform factions in Iran ever since Khatami took office three years ago pledging to institute a "civil society" with expanded freedoms.
Last year the conservative-led courts closed down several pro-Khatami newspapers, and the banning of the Salam daily -- which came on the same day parliament passed the draft version of the new press measures -- sparked student protests.
Those protests quickly erupted in six days of bloody riots after demonstrators were brutally attacked by security forces and Islamic vigilantes.
On Friday, Khamenei addressed thousands of worshippers at weekly prayers in Tehran and defended the regime's use of what he called "legal violence," saying it was a means of keeping order in the country – TEHRAN (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com) | <urn:uuid:686dde08-6f8b-4aa8-be71-56b9a411af92> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.albawaba.com/news/iran-parliament-approves-tough-new-press-measures | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953553 | 766 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Ban on texting while driving clears first hurdle
Published: Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 7:06 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 7:06 p.m.
TALLAHASSEE — State Sen. Nancy Detert says she wants her bill that would ban texting while driving to change the attitudes of Florida's next generation of drivers.
"Regardless of the particulars, the goal is to retrain our new drivers just as we did with seat belts," Detert told the Senate Communications, Energy and Public Utilities Committee, shortly before the panel voted 9-0 Wednesday for her bill (SB 52).
"Younger people hop in the car, they put their seat belts on," said Detert, a Venice Republican. "Older people do not because we weren't trained that way."
But while Detert is hoping to shift attitudes statewide on texting and driving, a change in thinking among Florida House leaders may be the most significant development this year on the legislation, which has stalled in the Legislature since 2008.
For the first time in the past two years, a House panel will hold a hearing on a texting ban bill. The House Transportation and Highway Safety Subcommittee is scheduled to vote on HB 13 — sponsored by Reps. Doug Holder and Ray Pilon, both Republicans — Thursday.
"It's absolutely huge," said Keyna Cory, a lobbyist for the National Solid Wastes Management Association who is coordinating a coalition of more 20 businesses and advocacy groups that support the legislation, including AAA, Florida sheriffs, AT&T, rental car companies, local governments and Walt Disney.
For the past two years, the legislation has been blocked in the House because of opposition from a former transportation panel chairman and former House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, Cory said.
Cory and Holder, who has been pushing for the texting ban since 2008, credited Rep. Daniel Davis, R-Jacksonville, chairman of the House transportation subcommittee, for allowing the bill to be heard. Holder thanked Davis on Wednesday in a tweet. House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, has also said he would not stand in the way of the bill.
"Now we have two new leaders and a whole new interest in it," said Cory, who predicted the House transportation subcommittee will back the bill and allow it to move through the chamber, where it will have to clear two additional panels before it can reach the House floor.
"We're feeling good. But you can never tell until the 60th day," the last of the session, Cory said.
Meanwhile, Detert's bill continued to cruise through the Senate, now heading to the Judiciary Committee, its last committee stop before a floor vote.
The bill makes driving while texting a secondary offense — meaning motorists would have to be pulled over for another violation before they could be charged with the offense, which carries a $60 fine plus court costs.
Detert said some critics have called the bill "watered down," but she noted that guilty motorists will face two violations.
"Frankly, they'll end up with two tickets instead of one," she said.
However, Detert continued to emphasize the need for Florida to join the overwhelming majority of states that have a full or partial texting ban — noting that Florida is now one of only five states without some type of ban.
She also argued that the difference between a secondary or primary violation may be lost on the driver demographic targeted by her bill.
"What I want is for mothers and dads to be able to say: ‘Don't forget; don't text while driving. It's against the law,' " Detert said. "And I can guarantee you, none of your children is going to pull down the Florida statutes and say: Oh but it's only a secondary offense."
"Either we have a law or we don't have a law," Detert said. "Let's have one and let's have it this year."
All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged. | <urn:uuid:e6e2a693-add9-4464-8f41-9515b2f825f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ocala.com/article/20130306/ARTICLES/130309808&tc=ix | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970551 | 838 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Short video from the NASUWT documenting education secretary Michael Gove’s long struggle with reality.
While the prime minister visits India, new figures reveal that not a single UK child has studies Hindi for GCSE or A-Levels in the past year.
Michael Gove has done a U-turn over plans to scrap GCSEs.
Fiona Twycross AM makes the case for universal free school meals, and calls on Labour to adopt the policy.
The Welsh government has opted to retain the current exams model of GCSEs and A-Levels, putting Wales and England on course to see radically different systems.
Shadow education secretary Stephen Twigg MP responds to today’s school league tables.
Stephen Twigg today warns Michael Gove’s Ebacc plans risk “ushering in a decade of economic decline”, taking Britain back to a ’19th-century education system’.
Stephen Twigg MP, Shadow Education Secretary Labour has today called a debate in Parliament on the Government’s shambolic plan for changes to exams at 16. We do need to reform our education system so that it equips young people with the skills, knowledge and resilience that they need to play their part in the economy [...]
A glimpse into the everyday lives of teachers, looking at the attitudes of teachers towards action taken by the NUT that did not include strike action.
Michael Gove will do well to listen to those urging him to think again about his proposed reforms to secondary examinations, writes the NUT’s Christine Blower. | <urn:uuid:ac6302d5-8d3d-4a33-b32c-6759e6362d2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.leftfootforward.org/tag/education/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947137 | 326 | 1.6875 | 2 |
- What is mobile number portability?
- What is 'porting'?
- What are the benefits of porting?
- What are the issues to be considered?
- Do I have to keep my number?
- How do I assess whether I should take advantage of mobile number portability?
- Can I switch providers if I'm still on contract with my existing provider?
- Can I change providers if I owe my existing provider money?
- Can I change providers if I'm on a pre-paid service?
- Can I change providers and go to a pre-paid service?
- Does MNP mean that any provider I approach must accept me as a customer?
- Should I cancel my existing service?
- Do I need a new handset or SIM card when I change providers?
- Can I get a new handset when I port, even if it is not required for technical reasons?
- If I can't tell what network somebody is with from the number, how will discounts for calls on the same network operate?
- I've decided to port. Who do I approach, my current mobile provider or the one I'm planning to move to?
- What should the new provider tell me before I port?
- Can my number be ported without my permission?
- Will I get a bill from my former provider?
- What are the steps involved in porting and how long will it take?
- What about all the information, like names and phone numbers, programmed onto my old SIM card?
- Can I nominate the date and time at which my service is ported?
- What about SMS? Will I still be able to send and receive text messages?
- I travel overseas and roam onto other networks. Will international roaming be affected?
- If I'm considering porting to an alternative mobile carrier, how can I find out reliably whether that carrier has adequate coverage for me?
- I am having difficulty porting my number, who can help?
Mobile number portability (MNP) began in Australia on 25 September 2001. The former ACA (a predecessor of the ACMA) set the date in mid-2000, after being directed to set the earliest practicable time by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission( ACCC).
It is the third implementation of number portability in Australia. Local number portability came into full effect at the start of 2000, and portability for 1800, 13 and 1300 numbers was introduced in November 2000.
The concept of MNP allows a user to keep their existing mobile service number when changing carriers or moving from one service provider to another. Customers should ensure that their new service provider offers the services and features that they need, such as voicemail, SMS, data and fax before making a change.
The introduction of MNP does not mean that a customer is obliged to transfer or port their mobile phone number when changing service providers. It merely gives the customer the option.
MNP covers all digital mobile service numbers except for satellite-only mobile services.
Mobile number portability is the ability to take your existing mobile number to a new service with a new provider.
Mobile number portability is not a service feature or a product it is the removal of a barrier to choosing the provider or service that suits you.
'Porting' is the act of transferring your number to a new service, either with a different network or a different provider, or both.
The main benefit of mobile number portability (MNP) is freedom of choice. You are free to choose a new mobile service provider without losing your existing number.
If you are not satisfied with your existing provider, you don't have to stay just to keep your number. If you are in business, keeping your number when changing phone companies means you will avoid missing calls, reprinting stationery and having any signage redone. For individuals it means avoiding the inconvenience of having to notify friends and associates that you've changed your number.
There are a number of issues that consumers should take into account. These include:
- the features of the new service you want. See question 6.
- your existing contract (if any). See question 7.
- whether to change to or from pre-paid. See questions 9 and 10.
- whether to get a new handset. See questions 13 and 14.
- the timing of the change. See question 22.
- possible effects on your use of SMS. See question 23.
- possible effects on international roaming. See question 24.
No, you do not have to keep your number. You can still change to a different provider and get a new number.
MNP is only relevant if you see a benefit in changing mobile service providers. You need to consider if you are on a contract already, and what you might have to pay to your existing provider. This is covered in more detail under question 7.
Think about what you want from a mobile service and whether the benefits of changing outweigh any costs.
- Are you on the right plan? Could you lower your bills by changing the mix of access and call charges? (You may be able to get onto a more suitable plan with your existing provider.)
- Does your network have the coverage you need?
- Would you, your friends or family benefit from discounts if you changed to a particular provider?
- Do you want to change the way you pay for your service, by changing from pre-paid to post-paid or vice-versa?
Your existing provider will bill you for call charges between the last bill and the date of the change. Changing providers does not absolve you of any contractual obligations. Some providers may charge a termination fee or porting fee to transfer the number to another provider. The fees charged are to cover the administration costs of porting your service from your original carrier to your new carrier. The termination fee may be charged for early release of contract.
Yes, you can, but you will still have to pay out your existing contract, just as you would if you simply cancelled your service.
Moving to a new provider may cancel your existing contract, but the obligations you may have to your existing provider remain. You will be required to pay all outstanding call charges. If your existing service is cancelled during a minimum term contract, you will also have to pay out your contract or an early termination fee. You will need to find out from your existing provider exactly what is required in your case.
You should ask your existing provider:
- when does my existing mobile service contract expire?
- will I have to pay an early termination fee or ongoing costs under my existing mobile service contract if I move my number to a new provider? If so, how much is it?
- if I have an outstanding bill, can I pay it in instalments or does it have to be paid in a lump sum?
Yes, but be aware that does not change the debt. You will still owe that provider any outstanding charges.
The existing provider cannot refuse or delay a request to port the existing mobile number to a new service provider because of any outstanding debt. However, you will continue to receive an account from your previous provider until this debt has been fully paid off.
Even if you're up to date with your bills, you will get a bill from your current provider for at least the call charges and network access up to the time you ported.
Yes, you can, but your handset may be locked. Handsets sold as part of a pre-paid service are often 'network SIM-locked' to prevent customers using a SIM card with the handset other than the one issued for the pre-paid service.
If you want to use the same handset you may need to arrange with your existing provider to have your handset unlocked. Some carriers may charge to unlock your handset.
This does not apply if you already owned the phone when you obtained the pre-paid service, or if you are prepared to get a new handset with the new service. But remember that new handsets may increase the cost to you.
If you have been a pre-paid customer and you want to port, you should ask your existing provider:
- is my handset SIM-locked?
- if so, is there a fee to unlock it and how much is it?
An important point for mobile phone users on a pre-paid service is that you will lose any credit you have on your service at the time of the change. That is something to take into account in the timing of a change.
Yes, if your chosen new provider offers you that service.
This will not cancel any contractual obligations you may already have. Check the details of what the new provider is offering and make sure that it suits you. Be aware that you may have to shop around to find a service that suits you.
Note : You should be aware that there are legal requirements about providing name and address information when buying a pre-paid service. Refer to Buying a pre-paid mobile service for further information.
No, it doesn't.
Your current provider has to let you go, but a new provider is able to make a commercial decision about whether to accept you as a customer.
Only an active number can be ported to another provider. It's important that you do not cancel your existing service.
The existing service will be cancelled automatically once the new service is activated.
In most cases, no. Your provider is usually able to provide you with a new SIM card for your existing handset if you would like to keep your existing handset. SIM cards are network and account specific and even if you put the card into a different phone, the charges for the call would appear on your bill or be debited from your pre-paid account.
Yes, if you want to. In most cases you will be entering into a new relationship when you move to a new provider and you may choose to get a new handset. But you don't have to if you are happy with your current handset.
If you do get a new handset, and sign a handset contract to pay for that phone, it is particularly important to check any existing contract in case you are still paying for your current phone.
15. If I can't tell what network somebody is with from the number, how will discounts for calls on the same network operate?
The providers will know who their customers are, so they can still offer the discounts, but callers won't necessarily know if the people they call have switched to a new provider. To avoid unexpected charges, mobile users should confirm with their friends and their associates that they are using the same mobile network.
For more information talk to your service provider.
16. I've decided to port. Who do I approach, my current mobile provider or the one I'm planning to move to?
Go to the new provider.
The new provider will make contact with your existing provider as part of the porting process and inform it that you are porting.
Your new provider will also announce to all other Australian network providers that your number has been ported. This is to ensure callers to your number are successfully connected to your new network.
The new provider should explain the terms and conditions of the new service to you. Make sure you have a record of any special offers or inducements.
The new provider must explain to you that you could still owe money to your existing provider. That is an obligation under the Mobile Number Portability Industry Code. Once you have that information it is up to you to follow it up. The provider you are leaving must, once you ask, tell you what you owe without delay. (See questions 7 and 8).
Any possible debts will most probably arise from the terms and conditions of the contract you signed. For example, if you cancel your service when you are part of the way through a 12 month minimum term contract, you may be required to pay a cancellation fee-or continue to pay the monthly minimum if your existing provider offers you that option.
The new provider is also obliged under the code to ask you to give authorisation confirming the request to change providers and retain the existing mobile number. This authorisation may be written, electronic or by voice. Only the authorised customer can give such an authorisation. The authorised customer is the person whose name is on the mobile service account with the current service provider. Make you have a record of any contract you sign, for future reference.
The new provider must also alert you to 'related services', that is, if you use your mobile service with separate numbers for fax or data. That is important because if you do, arrangements have to cover all the elements of your service at the same time.
If the prospective provider fails to warn you about possible obligations to your existing provider or the port is not properly authorised, the port is invalid.
No, the authorised owner of a service must authorise a port prior to the gaining provider processing the port. If an unauthorised port does occur, contact your service provider as soon as possible and the port can be reversed.
Yes, you are likely to get a final account or a number of accounts to settle your contractual obligations or to pay for the calls and network access you used between your last bill and the time of the switch.
The first step is to choose your new provider.
- You will be asked by the new provider to give authorisation to make the change. That could be in writing (if you sign a form), electronic (by agreeing to certain conditions over the Internet) or verbal (by agreeing to certain conditions over the phone. This conversation must be recorded with your knowledge.).
- Being advised that you may have obligations to your existing provider is part of the authorisation. It is up to you to follow this up.<
- The new provider will ask your existing provider to check that you are the authorised customer, and make sure that your personal information is correct. Personal information includes the account number for post-paid accounts and a reference number or date of birth for pre-paid accounts.
- The new provider may make a credit check. When these procedures are complete, the new provider will advise the former provider and the number will be moved to the new provider. The new provider must inform other carriers of the port so that they can correctly rout calls to your new provider, not your former provider.
- The telecommunications industry has set up automated processes and electronic interchange between carriers to enable porting to take place in around the same time that it would normally take to provide you with a new mobile phone service (if you were not porting). In the vast majority of cases, this is a couple of hours. However, the provision of wrong information, system malfunction, or other practical considerations may cause your port to take slightly longer. If you order your service over the phone, and a handset is to be couriered to you, the porting process is likely to be completed only when you have received your new handset and you are ready to activate your new service. Your new provider will advise you how long the process is expected to take.
- If your new service is a GSM one, you will be getting a new SIM card. If you have put a PIN or other security device to prevent unauthorised use of your phone, you will need to remove or deactivate that security.
- If you arrange your change of provider in some other way, for example, over the phone, or through the Internet, you will have to wait until you receive your new SIM card where your new service is on GSM. In that case, you will probably want to arrange with the new provider to activate the change only after you have the new card. Otherwise you could be left without a service during the changeover period.
Take care not to lose it.
There are a few possibilities, depending on both your handset and the dealer. If you are keeping the handset, check the manual to find out if there is an option to save the information from the SIM into the handset. If you are getting a new handset at the same time, you might want to note down all the information on the old SIM card before it is turned off as part of the cancellation of the old service. Some dealers may have the capacity to download the information from the SIM onto a computer and then to upload it onto the new SIM, but this is not a standard capability for dealers.
Yes, you can and it may be helpful to choose that date-and approximate time-carefully.
If you are moving from a pre-paid service, you may want to use up your credits before you move.
If you receive a lot of calls you may want to time the port for a non-busy time. Note that porting is only available during business hours.
If you have to wait for the new SIM card to arrive by post, you may want to postpone the activation of the new service until it has arrived.
You can nominate a date for porting up to thirty days in advance.
The availability of SMS depends on agreements between network operators, and they may not all have agreements with each other. Ask your new provider about its ability to send and receive SMS.
You should also be aware that delivery of messages to ported numbers from overseas cannot be guaranteed. This is due to the call routing methods employed by overseas carriers, which at present, may fail to route calls to the correct Australian network. Australian mobile carriers are currently investigating the feasibility of solutions to this problem, and you should speak to any potential service provider about their ability to ensure short messages that are sent from overseas will reach you. Messages to overseas destinations will not be affected, which means you will be able to send short messages to the same overseas destinations as other customers of your new network.
Availability of international roaming is dependent on bilateral agreements between your network operator and network operators overseas. The new provider might not have the same agreements as your previous provider. This will only matter if it does not have any agreements with operators in the countries you visit.
You should ask the new provider to which you are considering porting if it has agreements with network operators in the countries which you visit.
25. If I'm considering porting to an alternative mobile carrier, how can I find out reliably whether that carrier has adequate coverage for me?
Providers should be able to supply coverage maps on request. Ask your potential provider if coverage is offered in areas where you wish to utilise your service. It is important that you identify whether the service you wish to acquire is appropriate for your needs and whether a particular carrier can provide coverage in areas you wish to use it. Many providers also provide coverage maps on the Internet.
If you are having difficulty porting your mobile number and you are unable to resolve the problem directly with your provider, you are able to contact the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) for assistance. The TIO is an independent dispute resolution service that aims to assist individuals and small businesses resolve disputes with their telephone or internet service provider. The TIO can be contacted by calling 1800 062 058 or via the TIO’s website.
Please note that the ACMA is unable to assist with portability complaints, however, the ACMA is able to assist with general portability enquiries. You are able to contact the ACMA with a portability enquiry by sending an email to [email protected].
This information has been compiled by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the former ACA and the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman. Information about mobile number portability is also available on the website of the Communications Alliance Ltd. | <urn:uuid:a87e0a57-6541-4adf-944a-07f23d572fd2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD.PC/300888/pc=PC_1787 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944509 | 4,029 | 1.53125 | 2 |
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional Democratic leaders said Tuesday that they feel urgency to enact an economic stimulus plan and are confident they can work with President Bush to craft it quickly. The president also expressed confidence but said any deal must be done right, not just fast.
''The urgency that we feel at home is now even more urgent as we see the impact of our markets on others,'' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after lawmakers of both parties met with Bush at the White House.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the goal is to get a deal through Congress and on Bush's desk within roughly three to four weeks, before lawmakers break for the Presidents' Day recess.
''I really feel good that we have an opportunity to do something together,'' Reid said.
Earlier, Bush himself said he was confident that Congress and the administration will be able to approve a stimulus package to jump-start the economy and calm fears of recession that have shaken financial markets worldwide.
The unusual bipartisan harmony and pledges for fast action underscored how rattled the American public is -- and how leaders of both parties want to be seen as responding to those concerns quickly.
The lawmakers, like Bush, would not discuss the specifics of what a compromise plan would look like. They say that is a matter for private negotiation.
The president has broadly outlined a stimulus plan that would include tax cuts for individuals and businesses. Bush said any plan, to be effective, would need to represent roughly 1 percent of the gross domestic product, or about $140 billion to $150 billion. Democrats have their own ideas.
So far, all sides are stressing cooperation, not potential division about the details.
''This is about one thing in this package: Is it a stimulus?'' Pelosi said ''So whatever it is that we are considering, it must meet that one criterion: Does it stimulate the economy? Does it put money into the hands of those who will spend it?''
When the Democratic leaders were asked if they agreed with Bush's statement that the economy is ''inherently strong,'' Pelosi said, ''I certainly hope so.''
Reid predicted that the House -- led by Pelosi and Minority Leader John Boehner and working with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson -- would pass a package first and send it to the Senate. He said the size of a deal proposed by Bush was ''a good number.''
The action came on the same day that the Federal Reserve Board announced that it cut a key interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point.
Bush invited the bipartisan congressional leadership to discuss an emergency rescue package centered on tax rebates and business tax cuts but also likely to include increases in unemployment benefits and food stamps.
''I've got reasonable expectations about how fast something can happen,'' Bush said as the session began. ''But I'm also optimistic something will happen.''
Speaking in a packed Cabinet Room, Bush said both the administration and Congress want to find a solution quickly, but that he knows the legislative process can prove tedious
''Everybody wants to get something done quickly, but we want to make sure it gets done right,'' the president said. ''And make sure that everybody's realistic about the timetable. Legislative bodies don't move necessarily in an orderly, quick way, and therefore these leaders are committed, and they want to get something done.''
Later, as he announced the creation of a council charged with improving the nation's basic understanding of managing money, Bush noted the mortgage crisis. Banks, brokerages and insurers have announced staggering write-downs, largely due to bad subprime mortgage bets.
''I just wonder how many people, when they got subprime mortgages, knew what they were getting into,'' Bush said. Despite the economy's woes, he said he was confident in the long-term strength of the
On Wall Street, stocks plunged at the opening of trading Tuesday, propelling the Dow Jones industrials down about 400 points after the Fed's announcement of its rate cut failed to assuage nervous investors.
The slumping of the global economic market since Bush proposed the outline of an economic package added a greater aura of urgency to the talks at the White House. It also raised the question of whether Bush is willing to go for an even more expensive package. White House press secretary Dana Perino did not rule that out, although she said Bush believes he has proposed the correct figure, and no one is pushing for a bigger one at this point.
Paulson, the administration's point man on the stimulus bill, discussed details with top lawmakers in both parties in advance of the meeting between Bush and leading lawmakers.
''I have been very encouraged by the way that both parties have come together, bipartisan support for moving quickly to do something that will make a difference this year in our economy that will be meaningful, that will be temporary and something that we can hopefully get done quickly,'' Paulson told reporters. | <urn:uuid:71e8c3fe-4056-4c13-9802-275252b010b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.democraticleader.gov/news/articles/associated-press-dems-feel-urgency-enact-stimulus-plan?qt-photos_video=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966556 | 989 | 1.59375 | 2 |
RIYADH — Saudi Arabia's top clerics have challenged the government's policy to expand jobs for women with a fatwa ruling that they should not work as cashiers in supermarkets, a report said on Monday.
The official fatwa issuing body said that "it is not permissible for a woman to work in a place where they mix with men," the news website Sabq.org said.
"It is necessary to keep away from places where men congregate. Women should look for decent work that does not make it possible for them to attract men or be attracted by men," it said.
The ruling came from the Committee on Scholarly Work and Ifta, the official issuer of fatwas, or religious rulings, under the Council of Senior Scholars, the top authority for Islamic issues in the kingdom.
The fatwa was in response to a question -- published with the ruling -- asking specifically if women should work as cashiers in supermarkets, Sabq reported.
The ruling was unambiguous, and signed by Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, the head of the Senior Scholars Council, and six other members of the fatwa committee.
The fatwa came some four months after the labour ministry quietly authorised stores in the western city of Jeddah to employ women as cashiers, in an attempt to open up opportunities for women who are forcibly segregated from men under the strict Saudi version of Sunni Islam.
The first to test the policy was the Saudi-owned Panda chain, which started by putting 16 Saudi women to work at one store in the Red Sea city to test the concept.
While there were grumbles from clerics, there were no concerted challenges, and at least two other popular chains, Marhaba supermarkets and Centrepoint, a general department store chain, had moved to employ women cashiers.
In an attempt to adhere to the spirit of the rules, Panda set up separate check-out lines for families and women, but not for single men, in the way that Saudi restaurants are separated into sections for men and for women and families.
However, that apparently has not satisfied the conservative clerics -- even though shoppers themselves in supermarkets around the kingdom are not segregated.
Copyright © 2013 AFP. All rights reserved. More » | <urn:uuid:024dad91-9434-4bbf-bafc-420fcccc4c48> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5irDk4IKFpmvRfl9fMCE2VwabyFrw?docId=CNG.90fcc3fb8fe0939f953755a219011833.d91 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968082 | 461 | 1.609375 | 2 |
The various versions of Instrument Five have models under a glass dome so that the person drawing is reminded of the content being discussed by each instrument. Each model shows part of the content of a later version of the bird automata test track, and the models and figures were designed and built by Samantha (Sam) Lynch and Jason Campbell while I was working on the instruments. The image above (and below in detail) is the workbench / operating table to assemble and maintain the automaton birds. It was made by Sam.
The second model (below) by Jason shows the tracking station where all the bird’s movements during a test flight are recorded.
The glass domes protect the models from the flying paint.
The image above is a reminder of the model location in Instrument Five.
The models are built at 1:24. The figures are made up from a German kit of body parts that allow you to pick and choose from a variety of heads, torsos and limbs. They come naked, which seemed better than the available models with clothes – either military figures or estate agents. They looked a bit strange completely naked so Sam made some work aprons for them. If you think they look a bit pervy, compare them with the suggested assembly on the cover of the kit box.
Here is one of the plastic mouldings from the female kit. | <urn:uuid:d8395ab1-5fc0-4a5d-b145-09e9d28bcfc0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://natchard.com/2011/11/07/instrument-five-models/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970865 | 277 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Posts for May 2011
By Benjamin Bradlow, SDI secretariat
Beyond informal militias and formal bureaucracies — bringing water to Kosovo
The divide between the “informal” and “formal” is commonly understood as that between risk and a sure thing. The “informal” is seen as messy and dangerous. But the story of Kosovo informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya, shows that neither side of the divide can bridge the gap working alone.
We have written on this blog before about the need to understand incrementalism as a value for building inclusive cities and developing informal settlements in situ. The story of Kosovo shows how — step-by-step — informal communities and formal utility companies can work together to come up with innovative solutions to the provision of water, sewerage, and electricity.
Kosovo is one of 13 settlements that make up the informal Mathare region of the city. There are approximately 6,000 households in Kosovo.
Here, the Kenya slum dwellers federation, known as Muungano wa wanavijiji, has pioneered a solution that marries the ingenuity of the informal with the advantages of formalization. Provision of water in Kosovo had long been controlled by militia groups. In fact, says Irene Karanja, director of the Muungano Support Trust (MuST), “the militias had formed their bases around the services.”
For years, the Kenya Water Company had complained that they were not receiving revenue from Kosovo residents who had set up informal water connections. As Kosovo resident and Muungano secretary Jason Waweru describes it, “We said that both us have rights. So who is to say who has a more important right. So we opened a dialogue.”
Eventually, Muunagno and Water Company decided on a system for reticulating the water to the community, facilitated by Muungano. “It wasn’t easy to come up with a consensus,” Waweru says. This “delegated management model” meant that the community in Kosovo would control all the issues surrounding distribution of the water, including communal collection of fees.
Yet doubts remained. “Everyone was scared,” Waweru says. “If we approved the delegated management model would it just allow more militias and gangs to step in?”
So Muungano and the Water Company agreed to first build a model kiosk in one lane of the community. This was a tough negotiation. The Water Company only wanted to install water points on the bulk pipes, and did not want to work with individual connections that hooked up to the bulk infrastructure. “We lobbied that every household should have its own connection,” says Waweru. “We were thinking of the old mamas that have to walk to get water.”
Without waiting for the Water Company, the community started to dig trenches to lay pipes for the individual connections. In doing so, they developed community structures dedicated to managing and maintaining the water supply. After the Water Company saw this work, it indicated its willingness to come on board.
In late May 2010, the community disconnected its informal water supply and installed the formal connections. 180 households now have individual connections, while the rest of Kosovo’s 6,000 households fetch water from kiosks, which serve community-determined clusters within the settlements.
For Waweru, this community-managed system was a big breakthrough for both the community and the water company in understanding how to deal with the gap between the way the two sides work. “When we were doing this project, it created its own community structure. You can see it working,” he says. “We broke the formal structure of administration, and the informal structure of the militia groups. Now we can see the community owning the process.”
A bridge yet to be built — formalizing electrical connections
When I spoke with Waweru in early March 2011, he pointed out that the achievements of the community of Kosovo to achieve sustainable access to services were only partial. “Currently the utility company has been arresting people for illegal electricity connections,” he says. “We are asking why people have illegal connections when there is a good electricity supply in the area.”
At present, the utility company has been uninterested in developing a system for formalizing the connections because the amount used per individual household is perceived to be too little to make the investment worthwhile. Yet, seen from the settlement level, the amount of electricity that the community uses is enough for the company to initiate raids by the police on a regular basis.
Muungano has worked with the community to do a survey of the way that electricity is used at the household level throughout the settlement. This has helped the community to begin negotiating with the electricity company to get enough supply into the settlement legally. The prices are not so high, only KSh 1700 per month (approximately USD 20).
So if the company would be willing to supply more amperes of electricity, community leaders believe larger informal businesses could grow in the settlement. Currently, there are only small business, says Waweru. When businesses want to expand they know that they have to go elsewhere in the city in order to grow.
The example of Muungano’s work regarding the water connections is serving as a powerful model for building trust between the community and utility companies, which is helping the ongoing negotiations. Before, “whenever the utility company would come to the settlement, people would run away, afraid of being arrested,” says Waweru. “Now people run up and ask how they can help.”
The challenge of going to scale
Muungano has been surveying the entire zone of Mathare at the rate of 10,000 households every 3 months. This is intended to contribute to a zonal plan, which is a joint exercise between the federation, MuST, and the planning department of the University of Nairobi. This will help figure out how to reticulate services through the whole Mathare valley, explains Karanja.
Although it is making significant breakthroughs in its work with the Kosovo community, the Water Company is realizing that it is not structured to respond to the scale of demand for formal services in informal settlements. Waweru explains that Muungano is employing GIS technology in its ongoing surveys in order to propose an alternative billing system that addresses the needs of both the communities and the Company.
The zonal plan will allow for a more holistic view of the challenges that exist in this populous region of the city. Step-by-step, the formal and informal worlds are letting go of their preconceived notions, and beginning to implement real, sustainable solutions. When informal settlement communities like that in Kosovo organize around concrete developmental objectives, they show the way forward for a formal world that is too often hoping for top-down silver bullets that never appear. Together they are changing what informal settlements can mean to the development of cities.
pictured above: The Malawian federation after its presentation to the Malawian Parliament on 14 May.
By Wonderful Hunga, CCODE Malawi
The Malawi Federation met the Budget Committee of the Malawi National Assembly on Saturday, May 14, 2011 at the New Parliament Building in Lilongwe. Apart from introducing itself to the legislators, the Federation lobbied for inclusion of financial support for the low income housing programmes in this years national budget.
The Federation journey to Parliament began almost five years ago through exchange visits that exposed the Malawian Ministry of Lands and Housing to the growing need to support low income housing and shelter initiatives. While top Ministers have changed — since the first trip with Bazuka Mhango in May 2006, five other Ministers including the current one Bande have been involved — the strategy never changed. Exchange visits were still arranged for the Malawi government officials and facilitated by SDI.
Then there was a growing recognition by the Ministry to introduce a housing finance mechanism for the low income households. However, the question remained how that could be done?
In October 2010, there was another exchange to Namibia. It was time to learn how housing initiatives by the poor could be supported. The Malawi delegation, which included, the Minister of Lands, housing and urban development, the director of budgets in the Treasury and other government officials learnt how the government of Namibia supports directly supports low income housing initiatives.
One of the fruits of this eye-opening trip to Namibia was the drawing up of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Malawi and SDI. The MoU ignited a serious of discussions between CCODE, the support NGO for the Malawi Federation, on how the Namibian experience could be replicated in the country. Meetings continue to be held and one of the successes so far is that the parties are close to finalising modalities on disbursement of funds.
However approval from Parliament was required in order for the Ministry of lands, housing, and urban development to support the processes of the federation through the National Budget. Immediately the budget and finance committee of the National assembly came into the picture.
So when it was time for the 23rd Session of the Governing Council of the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT GC 23), the Ministry of lands, housing and development, John Bande, MP, requested Hon. Ralph Juma to visit the council in Nairobi Nairobi. Hon. Juma is the chairperson of the budget and finance committee.
The Budget Committee is one of the most powerful parliamentary committees in the Malawi National assembly. The committee is responsible for overseeing the formulation and passing of the national budget. Among other successes, the committee championed the inclusion of hardship allowances for teachers in remote areas of the country.
Hon. Juma learned about the Federation processes in Malawi, and a meeting was facilitated for the Federation, CCODE and the budget and finance committee.
“Where we are now, we are pressed with a huge demand to support shelter initiatives across the country and we are overwhelmed. We need budgetary support. It is time for government to take part in alleviating the housing problem in the country,” explained Mphatso Njunga, a Malawi Federation national leader, in her presentation to the committee.
When the turn came for the budget and finance committee chairperson, Ralph Juma, MP, to speak, the meeting exploded with joy. “What I can assure you is that we are behind you and we will ensure that you get this support just make sure that you finalise on the modalities with the Ministry of Lands,” said Hon. Juma.
CCODE and the Federation are already working on the modalities on the disbursement of the funds with the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development. The modalities have so far been drawn with a few legal hitches to be sorted out. According to the draft modalities, the Federation would access the funds through the Ministry’s vote.
“Maybe we would be worried that the budget formulation process is at an advanced stage before the modalities are agreed on and a contract signed. In any case we will still have the allocation under contingencies to ensure that you still have the funds once all is done,” the Budget and finance committee chair further assured the Federation amid handclapping.
According to an official statement from the Malawi National Assembly the budget meeting will open on May 23, 2011.
This is the first time the Malawi Alliance has engaged the committee. The engagement process showcases the power of exchange visits in bringing change at policy level.
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- An Introspect of the late Benson Osumba, Chair of Muungano wa Wanavijiji
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- Zimbabwe federation holds forum, Southern African hub meets
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- Culture, identity and slum areas: opportunities and challenges seen from slum dwellers’ perspective | <urn:uuid:58f1fbf1-f87f-41eb-84ac-c671d515a9eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sdinet.org/blog/2011/05/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956538 | 3,068 | 1.726563 | 2 |
“Shut Up”: After discovering undersea oil plumes Feds told scientists to “RETRACT”, then attempted to discredit research
August 11th, 2010
According to the St. Petersburg Times, after University of South Florida scientists reported discovering “signs that the oil spewing from the well had formed a 6-mile-wide plume,” the reaction by the federal agencies that sponsored their research was “shut up.”
The personal experiences of scientists dealing with the federal government recounted by the Times are troubling.
William Hogarth, dean of USF’s marine sciences department was told by some officials to “retract USF’s public announcement” of the plume.
He said, “I got lambasted by the Coast Guard and NOAA when we said there was undersea oil.” The dean compared it to “being ‘beat up’ by federal officials.”
An oceanographer at the University of Southern Mississippi performed a similar mission to find undersea plumes of oil and had a similar problems, “We expected that NOAA would be pleased because we found something very, very interesting… NOAA instead responded by trying to discredit us. It was just a shock to us.”
Read the full article here: USF says government tried to squelch their oil plume findings, St. Petersburg Times, August 10, 2010 | <urn:uuid:0c28a90d-b61a-48be-93d3-f12769e73f2c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://revolutionradio.org/?p=4273&cpage=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977301 | 298 | 1.75 | 2 |
Based on my own experiences, I have to agree with what the article says. I find that no matter what I eat, calories in (aka food eaten) minus calories out (aka exercise) ultimately translates to what I see on the scale. This is why I like the weight watchers point system so much. I do want to note, however, that I have found that when I fill my diet with natural foods like fruits and vegetables, instead of breads and other starchy or sugary foods, I generally end up eating a lot more food but a lot fewer calories during the day, ultimately leading to better numbers on the scale. So, eating more natural foods is win-win.
Here are a handful of links to some of my favorite all natural food finds and recipes that I leverage to keep full while keeping calories down:
Edamame: Edamame is high in protein, as well as vitamin A, vitamin C, Calcium and Iron. And, it is really easy to make at home!
Sesame Stir Fry: This carrot and asparagus (or broccoli) stir fry is delicious and really easy to make!
Cuties Oranges: I wrote about these recently. I actually eat 2-3 Cuties a day, since they make such a delicious and sweet snack!
Warm Cinnamon Apples: You can combine and cook apples and cinnamon to create a dessert/snack that tastes just like apple pie!
Broccoli in Spicy Orange Sauce: Broccoli is healthy because it is packed with nutrients like Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Folic Acid, Calcium and Fiber, and it is believed to help shield us from many diseases and conditions. The Broccoli in Spicy Orange Sauce recipe is very straightforward and provides you a great way to dress up your broccoli!
All Natural Popcorn: Who doesn't love popcorn. If you eat it without salt and butter, it is still delicious and, of course, much healthier!
Freeze Dried Fruit: Freeze dried fruit is so convenient since you can keep it with you in your car, bag, or desk. It is a yummy, crunchy snack.
Hummus: Hummus and whole wheat pita is a low calorie, healthy, high protein snack.
Fage Yogurt: Fage yogurt is thick, delicious, high in protein, and since it is yogurt, it helps improve digestion.
What is your favorite all natural treat? | <urn:uuid:6fd8f7b8-ef2b-4a65-82fc-d4945c9e4e48> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.yummydietfood.com/2009/03/low-carb-or-low-fat-diets.html?showComment=1236212940000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948017 | 501 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Organizers are in the final stages of planning for this weekend's Relay for Life at , an overnight walk aimed at raising money and awareness for cancer research.
"I can't believe how fast time is going these days," said planning committee chairperson Sue Holland, a special education teacher at the high school.
Last year, participants raised over $43,000 during the walk around the school's track. Holland said that it appears this year's relay, which begins at 5 p.m., will bring in "near the same amount of donations as last year."
So far, over $14,500 has been pledged and 308 participants on 42 teams have registered to walk, according to Manchester's Relay for Life page on the American Cancer Society website.
"We have some very motivated and enthusiastic teams that have great fund raisers planned for the night of the event," Holland said.
A kick off event to help energize participants. Even though the fundraiser brings in an impressive amount of money, donations aren't everything, Holland said.
"Regardless of the amount of money raised by our community, the event will be a success if one person, one family dealing with the effects of cancer finds hope, and support at our event," she said.
Those who want to register for the relay still have time to sign up online. Many throughout the school district are pitching in — Ridgeway Elementary School's "Bosom Buddies" group is a top fundraiser, having secured $2,700 in pledges.
“All of our schools contribute/participate in some way, including staff, students and parents,” said Lee Bruzaitis, public information officer for Manchester schools.
Though regular participants pay a $10 registration fee, cancer survivors are welcome to attend the event for the Survivor Lap. They can also bring a guest and enjoy a dinner, Holland said.
While the event runs overnight, Holland said that participants are welcome to come for any amount of time.
"There will be entertainment and games all night long, and you do not have to walk, run or stay up all night," she said.
Events scheduled during the relay include the "Rita's Ice Olympics," midnight Zumba and various American Cancer Society programs designed to help those living with the disease improve their lives.
The relay represents "an amazing opportunity to be a part of a very positive community event," Holland said.
"There will be lots to see and do, but the spirit of the event is something you have to experience for yourself. Just about everyone has been effected by cancer in some way, and we come together in support of each other and in the hope that we can end this terrible disease."
The 2012 Manchester Relay for Life schedule of events:
Opening Ceremony: 5 p.m.
Survivor Lap: 7:30 p.m.
Fight Back: 10 p.m.
Luminaria Ceremony: 11 p.m.
Closing Ceremony: 6 a.m. | <urn:uuid:99f64b73-fa39-43f8-9f8b-74d23f3290a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://manchester-nj.patch.com/groups/schools/p/relay-for-life-b68d647c | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959937 | 620 | 1.625 | 2 |
The United States installed more solar panels in 2012 than in any previous year, according to a new report, with residential use of solar power up 70 percent over 2011.
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Quick question. Your state has good sunshine, lots of open rooftops, and the cost of solar energy has been falling by 10% per year. Do you think it will take 13 years to double the 10 megawatts (MW) of installed solar power?
The solar industry continues to gather steam in Colorado, even as many subsidies have been changed or reduced.
Renewable energy could fully power a large electric grid 99.9 percent of the time by 2030 at costs comparable to today's electricity expenses, according to new research by the University of Delaware and Delaware Technical Community College.
For decades, there's been a lot of buzz going around regarding the lack of funding in schools across the U.S. All too often, especially in today's volatile economic environment, education budgets are viewed as more of a burden to the overall government budget rather than an important investment in tomorrow's leaders. As a result, programs in early childhood education continue to be cut more and more due to a lack of funding.
The leaders of the American Wind Energy Association, Geothermal Energy Association, National Hydropower Association and Solar Energy Industries Association today released the following statement:
The fast-growing renewable energy sector is poised to help lead the U.S. economic recovery with millions of new jobs and billions of private investment dollars. However, the new Administration and Congress need to take action to ensure that the renewable industries’ growth continues, given the current economic realities.
Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) President Rhone Resch issued the following statement on the nationwide election results:
“Americans hired a new generation of leaders on the expressed promise that they will support clean energy policies – leaders like Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Kathy Dahlkemper of Pennsylvania. These lawmakers augment established Democratic and Republican leaders that are committed to expanding our nation’s renewable energy supplies. Now it's time to move forward on implementing the Obama energy plan that will create 5 million green-collar jobs in the U.S.”
Solar Energy Industries Association Names Senator Maria Cantwell 2008 National Solar Energy Champion of the Year
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) today announced that U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) is the Democratic winner of its 2008 National Solar Energy Champion Award, citing her strong support and leadership on solar energy issues in the U.S. Senate. Senator Cantwell played a leading role in forging the bipartisan compromise that extended the solar investment tax credit (ITC), set to expire at the end of this year, for another eight years.
SEIA President Rhone Resch Highlights Industry Success in Extending Federal Solar Tax Credits, Outlines Ambitious Agenda for 2009
Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) president Rhone Resch delivered remarks today at the 5th annual Solar Power International Conference. Resch highlighted the solar industry’s success in passage of an 8-year extension of the 30-percent residential and commercial solar investment tax credit (ITC).
Federal Solar Tax Credits Extended for 8 Years, US Poised to Become Largest Solar Market in the World
Today, by a vote of 263 to 171, the U.S. House of Representatives passed historic legislation that extends the 30-percent federal investment tax credit for both residential and commercial solar installations for 8 years.
The array of solar panels all facing south give the appearance of a shimmering lake. And by late December, the 300,000 solar panels, each roughly the size of a 46-inch flat screen television near the Maryland Correctional Institution-Hagerstown off Roxbury Road, are expected to generate a peak of 20 megawatts of power per hour.
Clean energy has become a dirty word in presidential politics. In their second debate, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama each tried to outdo the other’s love of fossil fuels: Obama extolling his record on oil and natural gas production, Romney vowing to take “advantage of the oil and coal we have here.” The Republican candidate has ridiculed the administration’s $535 million loan guarantee to Solyndra, the bankrupt California-based solar panel maker, and accused Obama of living “in an imaginary world where government-subsidized windmills and solar panels could power the economy.”
WHEN the city of Brea, Calif., about 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles, set out to reduce its carbon emissions and save money on energy costs, the challenge was the same faced by many other cities nationwide: allocating the funds to pay for the program.
Arizona Democrats are vying to wrest control of the state utility board so they can expand the use of solar energy in the nation’s sunniest state.
Energy independence by 2020? The idea has been touted on the U.S. presidential campaign trail, but global home furnishings retailer Ikea is announcing plans Tuesday to achieve that goal with solar and wind power. | <urn:uuid:def6052a-31b5-4bc4-8134-6425225c9cbe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.seia.org/news?page=33&pressrelease_id=2162&qt-news_landing_page_tabs=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931004 | 1,167 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Despite some netizens’ negativity towards the concept of love and Valentine’s Day, two Filipino multimedia artists took to Facebook to voice their optimism and to engage everyone in a feel-good exchange intended for this special day.
Alvin Zafra and Dada Docot, products of the University of the Philippines-Diliman, came up with a page called “Pag-ibig Findings” (https://www.facebook.com/pagibigfindings)
where netizens are invited to post “a photo or any work about the topic of love and romance.”
In an e-mail response to GMA News Online, Zafra said he and Docot “had the idea this morning.”
“I posted a poem from Kahlil Gibran with the header: pag-ibig findings. We used to have art exhibits way back using this title, and every February 14 we do this. She thought of doing an online exhibit about it,” Zafra told GMA News Online.
The page is described as “an online exhibit happening only on February 14, 2012 (your time zone)… This is to celebrate the innumerable happy little things around us.”
Docot and Zafra are one in saying that the page is “nothing serious, just to share positive thoughts about love.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, the page has received more than 20 entries, ranging from poignant photos featuring romantic partners to a wacky illustration featuring a heart bent upside down.
“We’re just trying to invite and tag friends, hopefully there will be more people joining from now. It’s just 10:30 p.m. here in Vancouver, and we celebrate Valentine’s Day tomorrow. Hopefully there will be more people joining from this side of the world soon,” Docot said.
Those who are interested to join this online exhibit can go to www.facebook.com/pagibigfindings and hit the “Add Friend” button. — TJD/HS, GMA News | <urn:uuid:a6f8c869-45c0-4242-8eed-a91337d1b10d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ph.news.yahoo.com/pinoy-artists-unveil-collaborative-valentines-art-project-facebook-111814154.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949242 | 442 | 1.539063 | 2 |
English Police Force Uses Cardboard Cut-Outs
Leave it to the blimey Brits to use cardboard cut-outs to deter shoplifters.
The bobbies in Derbyshire, England placed 10 cardboard cut-outs of a female police officer in stores across the Peak District to deter shoplifting, according to BBC News. This move was also done in the Amber Valley area, but ironically, one of the cut-outs was stolen. The officer used at the cut-out model, Pc Anna Gaskill, said that the use of these cut-outs does not mean that the police force is short in numbers. She told the BBC that they are just being used as an extra deterrent. The police force hopes to use more of these in the future. | <urn:uuid:e272c999-0089-4132-8621-21233e8ff4de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.lib.umn.edu/doane013/3101newsfall07/2007/11/english_police_force_uses_card.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968917 | 158 | 1.8125 | 2 |
By Eddie B. Allen Jr.
DETROIT (Reuters) - Jury selection began on Thursday in the trial of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who was elected in 2001 as a bright hope to reverse the city's decades of decline but now faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of federal corruption charges.
The jury's racial makeup in the trial of Kilpatrick, who is black, is an issue because the pool of 220 potential jurors from southeastern Michigan includes people both from Detroit, which is 83 percent black, and predominantly white nearby areas.
"Our future ... right here, right now," was the slogan that helped Kilpatrick, then a 31-year-old state legislator, become the youngest mayor in Detroit history.
He already has spent more than a year in prison after pleading guilty to charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, and probation violations.
Kilpatrick now faces up to 30 years in prison, accused in a 46-count indictment of using cash from a tax-exempt civic fund to pay for yoga classes, golf clubs and anti-bugging equipment. His father and two other men, a former city contractor and a former Detroit official, also go on trial with Kilpatrick.
Kilpatrick unsuccessfully sought to have the charges dismissed because of concerns that blacks are systematically excluded from federal jury pools in eastern Michigan. Supporters of Kilpatrick have cited the case of Bobby Ferguson, a friend of Kilpatrick whose case was heard by a jury drawn from a pool that was less than 10 percent black.
Prosecutors are expected to say that Kilpatrick used the mayor's office to make money for himself and his associates, including his politically connected father, Bernard Kilpatrick, who is also on trial.
His mother, Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, who was a 14-year U.S. congresswoman, is not charged in the case. Bernard Kilpatrick was once the chief-of-staff to the top elected official in Wayne County, where Detroit is located.
Kilpatrick, a Democrat, failed to turn around Detroit's economy and declining city services, which were hit hard by the 2008 and 2009 recession. Kilpatrick's successor, Mayor Dave Bing, has been forced to cut city jobs and budgets and the city is struggling to avoid declaring bankruptcy.
Despite the revival of the major auto companies headquartered in the Detroit area, the city's shrinking population and declining revenue have left it with a large budget deficit and billions in long-term debt.
Kilpatrick stepped down as mayor in 2008 as part of a plea agreement for lying under oath in a $8.4 million city settlement brought by two fired police officers. The charges to which he pleaded guilty showed that he lied in order to conceal cell phone text messages detailing an affair with a woman who was his chief of staff.
Kilpatrick's record of text messages is expected to be part of the evidence introduced during the new trial, which prosecutors say will demonstrate that he ran a corrupt office.
Judge Nancy Edmunds tentatively has scheduled opening statements in the case for next Monday, depending on how quickly 12 jurors and six alternate jurors can be chosen.
Edmunds previously presided over the trial of the so-called "underwear bomber" Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who last October pleaded guilty to trying to blow up a commercial airliner with explosively sewn into his underwear and is serving a life sentence in prison.
(Editing by Bernie Woodall and Will Dunham) | <urn:uuid:1b81f42b-8796-4169-a5ae-81ad936389c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://whtc.com/news/articles/2012/sep/06/jury-selection-opens-in-former-detroit-mayors-corruption-trial/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975141 | 708 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Academics A New Way to Make Feature Films?
by Jay Craven
During the fall of 1988, I made my first dramatic film. I didn't know what I was doing but I heeded advice I received in a postcard from indie film pioneer, John Sayles. "When the sh - - hits the fan," Sayles wrote, " just keep your eye on the ball." Sayles predicted an onslaught of thorny complications that he said go along with any film shoot. He was right. I did the best I could to stay in the saddle. We survived.
My first narrative was based on Howard Frank Mosher's short story, High Water. It tells the story of an irrepressible teen-aged farm boy battling the odds to get his bright yellow '37 Plymouth to a stock car race across the Quebec border in Sherbrooke. Everything goes wrong. The plank bridge he must cross in his lower field gives out; a torrential downpour threatens to drown his herd of heifers; and the boy's mulish father opposes his every move. Our production faced an even greater number of obstacles. We needed to create a swollen stream that threatens to wipe out the plank bridge, so we constructed a chunky timber dam below it, so we could back up water to create the desired affect. Then, as we prepared to shoot, an actual deluge swamped us with heavy rain. Our entire set nearly floated off into oblivion.
Even with dozens of complications and setbacks, the intense experience of this first film whetted my appetite for more. I loved the adventure-the sight and smell of early mornings and late nights when we all had to remain sharp, the charged collaboration with actors and crew that made our weeklong shoot feel like two months-even the unpredictable twists and turns. Time raced by while seeming to stand still. Even today, I'll catch the whiff of a late October breeze carrying a trace of wood smoke or pick up the hint of a coming rainstorm-and I'll be transported back to the set of High Water.
I made my first film with a young crew. Some had no experience with lights and cameras but could tinker old cars or figure out how to construct our bridge and dam. One young woman had taken college art classes and had an eye for set design and costumes. We all learned a lot.
Next January, having now made five feature-length films, I'll launch a new mode of production that in many ways takes me back to my very first narrative filmmaking experience. I'll partner with Marlboro College, where I teach, to create a Film Intensive semester where we'll gather eight skilled professionals to collaborate with twenty college students to make a dramatic feature film using professional actors. We'll make the film for national release. Students will work in substantial roles to earn college credit AND professional film credit. They'll share in the challenge, camaraderie, occasional frustration, and excitement of the venture.
Some people ask me why I'm now turning to this more improvisational mode of film production. But I've worked in film and education for 35 years and I know that motivated young people can work at a high standard. Whenever I give Marlboro students the chance to take their place alongside film professionals on one of my crews, they rise to the challenge and come away with experiences they never could achieve in a classroom or student film shoot. In nearly every instance, they reach beyond their grasp and develop fresh instincts - in nearly the same moment that they must put them to work. We provide these students with the opportunity to learn through trial and error and develop new perspectives on imagination, collaboration-and stamina. Nothing accelerates an emerging filmmaker's path more quickly than this kind of intensive exposure - which can otherwise take years to achieve.
I have several new scripts that I considered for our Film Intensive. But I've decided to return to my longtime collaborator Howard Mosher for his haunting and unconventional coming-of-age story, Northern Borders. I see Mosher's stories as "Vermont westerns" and love how he animates larger-than-life characters and archetypal themes in a rough but distinctive northern frontier setting. Northern Borders has only three main characters and one primary set but it tells a compelling story of strange family relationships, a fading way of life, and the loneliness of growing up. It's funny, dramatic, and emotionally resonant. Actors will have a field day with these characters and a clever art department can enjoy the fun as they conjure a magical world. Northern Borders was previously in development by producer Jake Eberts (Chariots of Fire, Gandhi, Dances With Wolves, The Killing Fields, Chicken Run, The Illusionist) for actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Sadly, the film never reached production but I'm pleased to now take it on.
My twenty-three years in narrative filmmaking also convinces me that our new Film Intensive is the right mode of production for this time-from a financial perspective. I've been lucky to make films that are widely seen and distributed. Still, the financial bottom line is problematic and has only gotten worse. My last picture was Disappearances, a whiskey-smuggling adventure that starred Academy Award nominees Kris Kristofferson and Genevieve Bujold. It performed well in the marketplace, sold 100,000 DVD's, did fine in pay-per-view, played in 23 countries, and beamed into homes on Starz and Showtime. Despite this, the film has returned only a fraction of its $1.7 million production cost. Chip Hourihan, my collaborating producer on the Film Intensive, had the same experience with his 2009 film, Frozen River, which was even nominated for two Academy Awards.
So, let's make movies a new way—aiming high to make Northern Borders the best film we can in a unique collaboration that partners students and professionals who combine learning with craft. Together, we can break new ground. | <urn:uuid:18ad5256-a69e-479e-b5c0-18661e87eefd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marlboro.edu/academics/movies/craven_essay | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964289 | 1,225 | 1.828125 | 2 |
There are some aspects of the contemporary poetry world that I find particularly disturbing. The fact of what Emily Warn described recently on Harriet as the Pyramid Scheme that is the MFA industry is one. The popularity contest is another. That I allowed poetry to become muddied this way bothers me. I don't take readers or followers of this blog lightly. Nor do I take my friends and my network of poets lightly. So, that I spent time this week advocating for votes is strange and a little off-putting.
On the other hand, the best part of the entire process was hearing from people who share a similar vision of poetry. People who believe in poetry as community, but not a community made only of inspiration and support, but of advocacy and difficulty, of agitation and experiment, innovation and archive, disagreement and challenge, a community that presses one another to think beyond and move beyond the small world of the "I."
As well, I heard from family, which for me was particularly sweet. My only living maternal aunt, some 80 years, got wind and was advocating on my behalf. She got hold of cousins I have not seen in twenty years and urged them to vote. My uncle was a politician, and my aunt understands the process of acquiring votes you see, so it was a surprise, her energy at my virtual doorstep, and if anything spurred me on, it was her desire to aid me in this way. Poetry, she may not quite understand, or like, but votes--that she could do.
So while I am thankful for that energy, it is back to the actual work of poetry now. Which is, as I said in a Tweet the other day, more a business of silence and introspection than self promotion and publication. Whether the poetry is conceptual, or lyric, or narrative, or formal, or comes from a place of play, or political will, or a desire to express emotion, silence is the air of poetry, the depth, the elasticity. There is a reason writing poetry takes time--and it is not only about the crafting of it, or the gathering of material, it is that relationship to self and to values that one needs to constantly keep in check.
As for the laureate, the tie, the sudden calling of the vote without letting anyone know that the voting was actually over? It's actually a fitting end I suppose. A reminder that, as Mr. Jacob Mooney said, people make too much of things. And it is arbitrary and artificial, unlike the oil that will reach the shore some time this afternoon. That is very real. And at the risk of sounding melodramatic, that, and our addiction to oil is what we need to be taking more seriously.
Thanks again to all who voted and advocated and believe in poetry. I was truly inspired by your support. And congrats to my competition.
I will report on the matter of my status of half-laureate and what I will accomplish with my tenure shortly. Perhaps we should have been required to supply these statements prior to the madness? | <urn:uuid:c82bd08e-ae79-480a-aaa1-5aac8f5d9ad3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lemonhound.blogspot.com/2010/04/on-matter-of-laureate.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979834 | 626 | 1.5 | 2 |
Claude Monet's Life Revealed During "Artist Café" on April 20 at the Clark
For Immediate Release
April 04, 2006
The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute's "Artist Cafe" series, celebrating the lives of famous artists, wraps up on Thursday, April 20. The series features an informal talk by assistant curator of education Danielle Steinmann, a different signature drink inspired by the artist's birthplace, and a cash bar and light snacks. The admission price includes one drink. Held from 6 to 8 pm, the evening also includes social time and gallery viewing. Tickets are $15 per talk ($12 for members) and may be reserved by calling the Clark box office at 413-458-0524 or purchased at the door.
April 20 features "The Atmospheric Life of Claude Monet." In this last installment of the series, get the scoop on the unique life of Monet, a member of the Impressionist movement. Looking at his ethereal paintings of nature and light, it would be easy to imagine that Monet lived a quiet life painting outdoors in his garden. But, like the other Impressionists, he was no stranger to strife and intrigue in his personal life. Steinmann's lecture opens the door to Monet's private life and public work.
The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The galleries are open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm (daily in July and August). Admission is free November through May. Admission June 1 through October 31 is $10 for adults, free for children 18 and younger, members, and students with valid ID. For more information, call 413-458-2303 or visit www.clarkart.edu. | <urn:uuid:0243afc1-8455-4243-a570-3a75a2ff7165> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.clarkart.edu/about/press/content.cfm?ID=565&year=2006 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958969 | 352 | 1.523438 | 2 |
WESTERN SAN JUANS – Wilderness supporters across the region on Thursday applauded Sen. Mark Udall’s reintroduction of the San Juan Mountains Wilderness Bill, piece of grassroots legislation that would federally preserve a patchwork of public lands in southwestern Colorado.
"Colorado's scenic mountains and open spaces create jobs and form the very foundation of our thriving outdoor recreation economy. We need to support these job creators by protecting and preserving the public lands that are critical to their businesses and our quality of life in Colorado," Udall said. "This legislation is an example of how wilderness should be done — from the bottom up and with the support of local businesses, leaders and residents."
The bill seeks to preserve 61,000 acres in San Miguel, Ouray and San Juan counties. It would achieve this by expanding some existing wilderness areas, designating one new one, and extending new protections to certain other wild lands in the area. Specific provisions include:
• 3,170 acres added to the existing Lizard Head Wilderness Area in San Miguel County;
• 21,606 acres added to the existing Mt. Sneffels Wilderness Area in San Miguel and
• 8,614 acres of the McKenna Peak Wilderness Study Area in San Miguel County,
located in the Disappointment Valley, designated as wilderness.
It would also extend new protections to other wild lands in the region:
• 21,697 acres in San Juan and San Miguel County including Ice Lakes Basin outside of
Silverton and the high alpine peaks near Ophir designated as the Sheep Mountain
Special Management Area. Existing uses including heliskiing would be allowed to
continue, but no new roads or other development will be permitted. The area would
automatically become wilderness should the heliski company cease to operate in the
• 6,595 acres withdrawn from eligibility for mineral leasing in Naturita Canyon, near
Norwood in San Miguel County.
The bill was originally sponsored in the House by John Salazar and in the Senate by Mark Udall in 2009, but failed to pass Congress.
Wilderness advocates managed to revive the legislation in 2011; Udall and co-sponsor Michael Bennet reintroduced the bill in September of that year. Constituents on both sides of the Wilderness issue spent much of the remainder of 2011 trying to influence Representative Scott Tipton’s decision whether to pick up the Wilderness Act where the ousted Salazar had left off by introducing companion legislation in the House.
Supporters pointed to broad grassroots support for the wilderness expansion, and its potential benefits for tourism in the area. Opponents, including then newly elected Ouray County Commissioner Mike Fedel, argued that wilderness designation would negatively impact mining in the region, including mining for so-called rare earth minerals.
Wilderness designation “would eliminate the possibility of developing these forever,” Fedel said, when he cast the lone dissenting vote among Ouray County Commissioners against two in favor of continuing the county’s support for the wilderness expansion.
Tipton attended a listening session in Ouray in September 2011 that drew over 400 wilderness advocates and opponents from throughout the region. His staff then conducted two more open house events in Silverton and Telluride to meet with concerned constituents on the matter.
Wilderness advocates turned up the heat, putting ads in regional papers and sending a letter to congressman urging him to make up his mind one way or the other, and to let the community know where he stands on the matter. But so far, he has not tipped his hand.
Udall, meanwhile has never stopped championing the bill. In March of 2012, he spoke to his colleagues at a Public Lands and Forests Subcommittee hearing about the merits of the legislation.
Hilary White, Executive Director of Sheep Mountain Alliance, was among those who praised Udall for once again reintroducing the bill today.
"Senator Udall believes, along with the majority of Colorado residents, in the vital importance of preserving our remaining wild lands and we are eager to see this incredible area in Southwest Colorado move closer to protection” said White. “There is strong regional support to see the clean air and clean water resources in these areas protected and we hope there will be support in Congress as well." | <urn:uuid:b9b89c17-828b-4f6d-941b-a5dbe79ad23d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.watchnewspapers.com/view/full_story/21719106/article-New-Hope-For-the-San-Juan-Mountains-Wilderness-Act-?instance=latest_story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946896 | 871 | 1.75 | 2 |
It was snowing heavily when I made my usual Monday walk round the Dells, along the Water of Leith today. It's a wonderful place at any time of the year but there is a special magic in the snow - a real winter wonderland. Unfortunately there's been so much snow that some trees have lost branches or fallen under the weight. If you're thinking of wandering round the Dells, do be careful, the path is partially blocked in places! I have cut back some of the smaller branches and also the ivy attached to some of the fallen trees, but I don't have the tools (or the skills!) to deal with the larger fallen branches. The Water of Leith Conservation Trust and the Edinburgh Countryside rangers will deal with these issues as and when they can. You also need to take care underfoot, the snow is soft and very nice for walking on, but it's easy to stray from the path and find yourself falling in a hole!
I saw lots of birds today. A heron took flight from the river almost as soon as I got into the Dells. I saw two dippers, one standing on a snow covered rock in the middle of the river, singing. We think of the robin as being the only bird in the UK that really sings in the winter, but the dipper (whose song is almost unexpected in its very existence) also sings now, a lovely song. It's a very early breeder so I guess its starting to stake its claim to territory extra early. I also had a very close view of a goldcrest, the tiniest British bird, but from a distance more likely to be confused with a coal tit or a blue tit than with a wren (and I saw one of those today as well!). I also had an excellent view of a buzzard that was being mobbed by a group of crows.
As I was leaving the Dells, I walked into an area that was full of long tailed tits. I saw about 15 of them, all bouncing from branch to branch, chatting away to each other.
On the way back into town, I passed a row of white berried rowan trees, and saw a small group of waxwings flying towards me. They landed in the rowan tree and started ripping off the berries!
Conservation organisations tell us to be extra careful not to disturb birds at this time of year, which is very true as they need to conserve their energy and don't want to be flying around all the time avoiding potential threats. However I think it is often true that birds are likely to come very close of their own accord at this time of year! | <urn:uuid:5dabbec1-8200-42e2-bef6-16132dc0f066> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://craftygreenpoet.blogspot.com/2010/12/winter-birds.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987051 | 547 | 1.671875 | 2 |
McChrystal's sacking needs to be studied in India
Last week's unceremonious dismissal by US President Barack Obama of his military commander in Afghanistan, Lt Gen Stanley McChrystal, should be carefully studied in this country.
In contrast to India, where civil-military relations remain mired in wary mutual watchfulness, America has demonstrated a robust civil-military structure with a healthy tolerance for risk.
This was evident from the joint political-military decision to prosecute an "Afghan-friendly" strategy despite the politically nettlesome issue of higher US casualties; and from Obama's swift decision that the general had unacceptably violated propriety in making public the fissures between top US policy-makers.
For those who missed last week's drama, General McChrystal and his personal staff -- styling themselves in the macho moulds of The Dirty Dozen and Inglourious Basterds -- committed the breathtaking mistake of embedding a writer for Rolling Stone magazine into their inner circle for a month, letting him listen in on formal and informal conversations with apparently everything on the record.
Image: Lt Gen Stanley McChrystal
What Truman did with MacArthur
Although McChrystal's sacking will be a studied chapter in US civil-military relations, Obama's was an easy decision compared to the dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur by President Harry Truman in 1951.
MacArthur, the hero of two world wars, a winner of the Medal of Honour (America's Param Vir Chakra), and the de facto ruler -- American Shogun -- of Japan from 1945-50, had been recalled from Tokyo in 1950 to command the UN forces in Korea.
Angered by China's intervention in the war, MacArthur publicly challenged Truman's restraint by planning nuclear attacks on Chinese air bases.
An outraged Truman rejected warnings that MacArthur might beat him in the 1952 presidential elections. Overruling support for MacArthur from the Secretary of Defence, General George Marshall, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Omar Bradley, Truman ended MacArthur's career.
Image: MacArthur with President Truman
Photographs: Rediff Archives
Indian Generals would never dream of functioning like McChrystal
All of this is unthinkable in India, where the system produces generals (and that includes flag officers of the navy and the air force) who would never dream of functioning like Stanley McChrystal.
That might indicate a healthier civil-military relationship in India, but only if one were to look superficially at just the Rolling Stone fiasco. Looking deeper -- especially at McChrystal's, and now Petraeus' selection as commanders in Afghanistan based on clear strategies that they brought to the table -- India could learn much from the US civil-military structure, based as it is on meritocracy, responsibility and accountability.
Consider how India would have selected a commander for a hypothetical Afghanistan mission: the MoD would have asked the Indian Army to "post" a suitable general.
In the US, the president nominates key commanders, based on their achievements and abilities, and Congress ratifies those appointments. General Petraeus, for example, was nominated as US Central Command chief, superseding several compatriots, after framing a widely acclaimed counter-insurgency doctrine for the US military. American generals routinely leapfrog less talented officers while being appointed to higher ranks.
Image: Indian tanks participate in a war game
Why Indian military rejects US-style selection
But, in the poisoned relationship between India's military and the bureaucratic-political elite, the armed forces reject US-style "deep selection".
India's military suspects that political interests would run rampant, promoting well-connected officers rather than competent ones. The army remembers Lieutenant General B M Kaul, whose connections with Nehru allowed him to drive India to defeat at the hands of China in 1962.
This would be valid reasoning, were it not for a growing phenomenon: increasingly mid-ranking and senior officers are seeking political and bureaucratic patronage. The media has already reported instances where the Akali Dal and certain UP parties have lobbied on behalf of senior military officers. Bureaucrats too often approach the MoD to push the cases of nephews, nieces and country cousins.
So, allowing an institutional gulf between the military and the political-bureaucratic class, even as patronage thrives below the radar, amounts to getting the worst of both worlds: condoning patronage while preventing partnership. The Indian military's insularity -- with officers carefully shielded from outside influences, and shaped instead by a numbing professional uniformity -- prevents the development of commanders who can operate confidently at political-strategic levels.
Image: Indian commandos take part in a parade
The military may have a point
While US generals like Petraeus and McChrystal gain credit for doing PhDs and MPhils, and for being cerebral academics, India's armed forces give no credit to an officer for non-military qualifications.
And the question of seconding officers to other government and non-government organisations to obtain a wider perspective is dismissed with: the MoD will never allow it.
There, the military may have a point. Political and bureaucratic elites fear, deep down, that allowing officers out of the cantonments could open the door to a rampantly political military. And so the two arms of government -- civil and military -- occupy separate worlds in India, glowering at each other across an abyss of distrust.
Interaction is minimal, even in formulating national security policy; bureaucrats and diplomats do that for elected leaders who remain, for the most part, strategically unschooled.
Bred in the tradition of the freedom struggle, they see political agitation as a more potent and familiar instrument than military power -- a confusing and technical subject that is the preserve of an English-speaking elite that they don't identify with.
Image: An unidentified Indian general makes an aerial survey near the LoC | <urn:uuid:c0abacce-a909-4cdd-abbf-7afae730af74> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/jun/29/slide-show-1-india-needs-to-study-mcchrystals-dismissal.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942399 | 1,213 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Sophia M. 25HA
Girl, Born February 2008
Diagnosis: Down syndrome
Character: sociable, a little girl moving, funny, good going on contact, crawling on his belly, looking for a hidden object in front, playing with toys, keeps them in his hand is weak, there are attempts to imitate the actions of an adult, played by request, “Ladushki,” stammered one and the same syllable (July 2008). Girl calm, affectionate, friendly, emotional, she dominated a good mood, easily comes into contact. Sofia is listening to the sounds of speech, responds to his name correctly responds to the intonation. Do not go, but sitting alone. Fluency takes various toys, manipulates them. At the request of an adult is familiar objects. In the active voice is lepetnye words that have no clear meaning. Self does not eat, but a good appetite, eats everything. Falls asleep quickly, sleeps peacefully. (May 2010)
The girl is calm, affectionate, friendly, emotional, she has dominated a good mood, easy to contact. Independently goes and sits on a chair. At the request of an adult is familiar objects. Understands the individual instructions in a particular situation: “Give the pen,” “ladushki”, “goodbye.” In the active voice is the word “give”, “on”, but said very quietly. Eat independently, yet surely, from a mug or drink, just a spoon, good appetite, eats everything. She falls asleep quickly, sleeps peacefully. (Sept 2010)
Sophia’s grant of $3113.60 has been gifted to Kylie. | <urn:uuid:bbc39aad-b99f-4185-a8ba-5565df3b8479> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://reecesrainbow.org/3947/sophia-25?wpfpaction=add&postid=3947 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957383 | 367 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Atlantis greets sister as Discovery concludes her T&R processing
Space Shuttle Orbiter Discovery’s almost 30 years of processing at Kennedy Space Center’s (KSC) Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) came to an end on Friday with the retired spaceship’s transfer out of OPF Bay 1. The orbiter traded places with sistership Atlantis, which returned to the OPF from High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).
Discovery’s Retirement From Processing:
Discovery’s move marked the conclusion of Transition and Retirement (T&R) work on the one-year anniversary of landing at the conclusion of her final flight, STS-133. Discovery was backed out of OPF-1 and pushed back on the tow-way between OPF-1 and OPF-2.
Meanwhile, workers backed Atlantis out of her temporary parking place, swung her around, and towed her in front of OPF-1 where she was parked temporarily. Then, as a small crowd of Shuttle team members gathered with media for the photo opportunity, Discovery was towed by Atlantis, before taking the spot Atlantis left warm in the VAB.
After Discovery was spotted in the VAB, workers returned to finish moving Atlantis into OPF-1. Discovery’s move out of the OPF and into VAB High Bay 4 comes a little more than a month before the planned mid-April ferry flight to her Washington, D.C. area retirement home.
Sporting the shells of her decommissioned Reaction Control System (RCS) hardware and one of the aerodynamic ferry tailcones covering the back of her boattail, Discovery looked to most outward appearances like she just got back to Florida from a landing out at Edwards Air Force Base in Calfornia.
Her ready-to-fly outside appearance somewhat belies the nearly year’s worth of decommissioning to make the spaceship safe for the public to view up-close at the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center.
“The main thing is getting the vehicle safed, so that it can be in a public environment,” Stephanie Stilson, NASA Flow Director for Orbiter Transition and Retirement, said during a question and answer session with assembled media. “Right now, we keep them in these Orbiter Processing Facilities, where you have to be badged and trained to even go near a vehicle.
“We want to have them obviously so the public can get up-close and personal with them, so we had to remove hypergols (oxidizer, fuel), ammonia, freon – anything that could be a potential hazard to the public.”
She explained how those were removed: “Depending on the system, we either went in and flushed it and cleaned it that way, or in some cases like for (hypergolic) fuel and oxidizer – because those are the most hazardous – we actually removed those components altogether. So we cut out lines, cut out valves, cut out gaskets, those kinds of things.”
Atlantis moves back into the OPF after more than a month in the VAB.
She was moved out of OPF Bay 2 on January 20th into the VAB Transfer Aisle and then rolled around to High Bay 4 on February 2nd.
While in VAB High Bay 4, Atlantis was leveled on jacks to begin work to remove aft compartment components of her Main Propulsion System (MPS), which are being donated to the Space Launch System (SLS) development program.
Meanwhile, work to finish decommissioning of orbiter RCS hardware continues.
Atlantis’s set of RCS modules, consisting of a Forward Reaction Control System (FRCS) module and two Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pods, was shipped out of KSC at the beginning of the month to a facility in White Sands, New Mexico, for decommissioning.
While all of the flight orbiters flew with the FRCS module they were manufactured and assembled with, the OMS pods were more or less interchangeable.
As a result, Atlantis finished her flight service with her own FRC4 module and with the LP04 and RP01 OMS pods. FRC4, LP04, and RP01 are expected back at Kennedy at the end of May.
Click here for T&R Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/T&R/
The “ship-set” that Endeavour flew STS-134 with, FRC5, LP03 and RP04, is back at KSC after decommissioning, arriving back from New Mexico on February 6th according to NASA. FRC5 was reattached to Endeavour on February 8, and LP03 and RP04 are scheduled to be reattached this month. Discovery is standing in the VAB with her FRC3 module and the LP01 and RP03 pods that she finished STS-133 with.
Also known as Orbiter Vehicle-103 (OV-103), Discovery was first towed to OPF Bay 2 at the time of her first arrival to the Space Coast, in early November, 1983.
Thirty-nine missions and not quite twenty-nine years later, the flagship of the Shuttle fleet will spend the next month or so in the VAB before KSC workers repeat the steps of her first arrival in reverse.
She will be towed from the VAB out to the Shuttle Landing Facility on her landing gear, aerodynamic tailcone still attached, in mid-April.
There she will be secured in KSC’s Mate Demate Device and raised off her landing gear. The gear will then be retracted and the landing gear doors closed.
She will then be lifted on top of the NASA-905 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft for a ferry flight up to Dulles International Airport. The flight still remains planned for April 17th.
Discovery’s arrival at Udvar-Hazy, which is adjacent to Dulles, will start a four-day festival of events and activities to welcome the vehicle to the museum and the public.
After she is demated from the SCA, Discovery will be towed just outside of her new home, the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar, for her welcome ceremony on April 19.
Discovery will be positioned next to Orbiter Enterprise for the ceremony.
To read about the orbiters - from birth, processing, every single mission, through to retirement, click here for the links:
(Images: Via NASA, L2 and L2 Historical content – And special photography provided by Brian Papke, MaxQ/NASASpaceflight.com – many thousands of super hi-res image stock available on L2′s new Photo Section – around 750 gbs in size.)
(L2 and NSF are continuing to follow the orbiters through their transitional period. To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/) | <urn:uuid:d4546928-0566-410c-9684-4ce711a00b0e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2012/03/atlantis-sister-discovery-tr-processing/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944736 | 1,467 | 1.59375 | 2 |
"Twitter works best for those particular ideas that are terse yet expressive, and don't benefit greatly from an in-place thread of replies.
- Twitter is built on Ruby on Rails and they're having severe problems handling the scaling
- It's hardly surprising scaling is a problem. It's a conversational medium built on static web centralised principles
- It's an aggregation of monologues. Making replies and hence conversation hard to impossible.
- Groups. It's already got grouping in the friends and followers functions. Add groups and you recreate IRC and Skype chats which frankly work much better.
- It's stupidly hard to find people on Twitter. eg. Where is Paul Walsh's Twitter page?
I can't let go of my thinking about building a responsive chat system built around contacts rather than around topics. I'm just finding it really hard to imagine the right architecture for this. After experimenting with Skype Moods, I've also been looking at the Skype App2App API. Now I'm wondering if there's *any* existing architecture that can cope. I'm more and more convinced that it needs to use an existing P2P chat system. Hmmm? Jabber-GTalk?
[ << Identity 2.0: my digital identity is an asset, but who owns it? ] [ Two cautioned over wi-fi 'theft' >> ]
[ 16-Apr-07 9:56am ] [ G ] [ # ] [ Twitter ] | <urn:uuid:18f62f41-f484-49ed-8dd5-10f24d6ec3f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://twitterwhere.com/node.php?id=2936 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949767 | 302 | 1.523438 | 2 |
How the 'Oprah Effect' changed publishing
America's most popular reader, Oprah Winfrey, says she is not done talking about the books she loves.
As The Oprah Winfrey Show ends its 25-year run on Wednesday, its host says Oprah's Book Club will follow her to her fledgling cable network, OWN. Without offering details, she vows, "I'm going to try to develop a show for books and authors."
Book discussions never attracted her best ratings, but that "doesn't matter," Winfrey tells USA TODAY. "Some things you do because it is necessary. We've done OK with them. … We found the more I could connect the author and the book to the audience, the better the numbers would be."
And in the book world, her numbers are beyond compare.
It began Sept. 17, 1996, with Winfrey's announcement that The Deep End of the Ocean, Jacquelyn Mitchard's novel about the kidnapping of a child, was the club's first selection.
INTERACTIVE: Memorable 'Oprah' moments
STORY: 70 books in Oprah's club
Fordham University marketing professor Al Greco estimates that sales of "Oprah editions" of the 70 titles in her book club total about 55 million copies, "and there wasn't a James Patterson or a John Grisham among them."
Winfrey's critics cringed after some touchy-feely selections and after discussions that were more about the readers than the books they read. But no one doubted her power as the ultimate in word-of-mouth recommendations. It's called the Oprah Effect. For example:
Book club by the numbers
70: Number of books selected
for Oprah’s Book Club
59: Number that made the top 10
on USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list
22: Number that were No. 1
on USA TODAY’s list
11: Most consecutive weeks
an Oprah book stayed at No. 1
(Ekhart Tolle’s A New Earth)
4: Most selections by one author
Paradise, The Bluest Eye and Sula)
Source: The Oprah Winfrey Show
•In 2009, she rocketed Say You're Not One of Them, Uwem Akpan's short-story collection about Africa, to No. 9 on USA TODAY's list. (His publisher reports 77,000 copies in print before Winfrey; 780,000 copies reprinted with the "O" logo on the cover.)
"She made book discussions interesting, educational and entertaining," Greco says. "Literature professors can be interesting and educational, but are they entertaining?"
Little, Brown publisher Michael Pietsch, who had four books that became Oprah's Book Club selections, including Akpan's, says Winfrey "didn't originate the idea of book clubs, but more than anyone, she has spread the idea of reading a book as a shared community."
‘Blessing from book gods’
He challenges the idea that there's such a thing as an Oprah kind of book: "She's a woman reader, and it's mostly women readers who responded to her selections. But she's open to all kinds of reading pleasures, from Toni Morrison to Jonathan Franzen."
An author's appearance on Winfrey's show "was a blessing from the book gods," says book publicist Patricia Eisemann. But unless it was the book club, it didn't guarantee big sales. Eisemann recalls having an author (she declines to name) on the show for 20 minutes, "but she was followed by a sports reporter with a book about his dying college professor, and he won the hearts of the audience. The needle on our book did not move. Morrie (by Mitch Albom) became publishing history."
The book club repeatedly made history. Winfrey got stores to order more than 500,000 copies of a book — not knowing its title, only that it was her next selection. Morrison, who was chosen four times, got a bigger sales boost from Winfrey than from winning the Nobel Prize for Literature.
"Oprah invigorated the concept of book clubs," says Carol Fitzgerald, founder of TheBookReportNetwork.com. But with fewer selections (18 in 1999 and 2000; only three last year), she lost momentum, then picked books by Faulkner and Dickens that "people read like homework but did not love," Fitzgerald says.
At the club's peak, "Oprah gave America an excuse to talk about books every couple of months," says David Kipen, former director of literature for the National Endowment for the Arts.
"More Americans talk about books anyway than folks might think, with or without her," he says. "But she served a useful purpose in the same way that the myth of summer reading does: reminding the forgetful that reading exists, which greatly expands the number of people us bookish types can talk to."
Most important, Kipen says: "She paid attention to fiction, which interviewers hardly ever do. She didn't exactly make interviewing novelists look easy, but she made it look possible, which is more than C-SPAN or most NPR public affairs shows ever do."
She expanded "the idea of what it's possible to do on TV — and not just public TV," says Kathleen Rooney, a DePaul University English professor who wrote Reading With Oprah: The Book Club That Changed America (2008). "Oprah showed how media — books and TV — that for years had been seen as antithetical could actually function together harmoniously."
Harmony didn't always prevail, but book club controversies made for good TV and thrust authors into the news.
In 2001, after Winfrey picked The Corrections, a literary family saga, its author, Franzen, questioned putting the book club's "logo of corporate ownership" on his cover and warned that it "was a hard book for that audience."
Franzen's televised dinner was canceled, but the logo stayed. He apologized, and when his novel won the National Book Award, he thanked Winfrey for her "enthusiasm."
Franzen apologized again last year when he appeared on Winfrey's show after she chose his latest novel, Freedom. Both novels then hit No. 1 on USA TODAY's list.
In 2002, Winfrey suspended the club, saying she could not keep up with the reading. A year later, it was back with a new format: Authors no longer had to appear on TV. In fact, they didn't have to be alive.
John Steinbeck (East of Eden) and Carson McCullers (The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter) joined the club.
In 2005, Winfrey switched directions again, selecting A Million Little Pieces, James Frey's memoir about addiction and recovery. But key parts of it turned out to be exaggerated or fabricated. That led to Winfrey's on-air excoriation of Frey.
Last week, Frey returned to Winfrey's couch, saying, "I got ambushed" the last time, but "in some ways I deserved it." Frey's new novel, The Final Testament of the Holy Bible, isn't part of Oprah's Book Club, but it got a boost from his TV appearance, rising from No. 10,286 on Amazon's sales rankings to No. 253.
In December, Winfrey chose two Charles Dickens novels, Great Expectations and ATale of Two Cities, confessing that she had not read them yet, or any Dickens. The two books, in one volume, peaked at No. 52 on USA TODAY's list.
That was a mistake, she now says. "I would have to say Dickens let me down. Dickens let me down! Of all the people! We were being sentimental about it. We misread the pulse and I had never read it, so I had no enthusiasm."
She continues to attract the scrutiny of scholars and literary critics.
During the Franzen-Winfrey feud, Scott Stossel, an editor at The Atlantic, wrote about why he found her book discussions so cloying: "There is something so relentlessly therapeutic, so consciously self-improving about the book club that it seems antithetical to discussions of serious literature. Literature should disturb the mind and derange the senses; it can be palliative, but it is not meant to be the easy, soothing one that Oprah would make it."
‘A writer’s groupie’
But Marilyn Johnson, who wrote the first major article on Winfrey as an evangelist for books in Life magazine in 1997, now says: "You have to understand that Oprah is in awe of the writers she loves, in the same way that people revere her. She's like a writer's groupie."
Mostly, she has been a friend to other readers, says Nora Rawlinson, publisher of EarlyWord, a digital newsletter for librarians. Citing surveys showing friends' recommendations are the top reason people buy a book, Rawlinson says: "Oprah is the ultimate friend to her audience. It will be sad to see that go. I hope she reinvents it on OWN."
Literary agent Lawrence Kirschbaum, former CEO of Warner Books, says her move could be a boon for books: "She won't have just one show, but an entire network. Sure, her audience will be smaller, but it will be more intense and passionate about books."
Kipen thinks "it's kind of odd that she used to make time for books when she had only one hour a day, five days a week. Now that she's got 24 hours a day, seven days a week, what happened to all the books?"
As Winfrey might say, stay tuned.
Contributing: Ann Oldenburg | <urn:uuid:cdbf4f5d-188a-48d4-a1db-13e7cff7e266> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2011-05-22-Oprah-Winfrey-Book-Club_n.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969248 | 2,036 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Tell Me What is so logical about the human race in the
society of gene pools, wars, oppression, unemployment,
politics, and those who would say that the world is
coming to an end tomorrow, the human race does not seem
to take a very logical approach to life in general these
days. It is rather funny to look at the way people react
in certain situations. People in some cases need to
lighten up while others just need to get a grip. Lets
take a look at some of the issues so maybe mankind can
get a clue.
Some people think that they have the ability to
out-think everyone else around them. That the logic they
possess is much greater than the average Joe. Who
determines between right and wrong? Who can honestly say
that they are an expert in the logic of human behavior?
Some people have a very vivid imagination as to how life
works. They live in a dream land all their own with cute
little cottages and white picket fences. They are the
ones that are truly in denial about what the heck is
People really need to take a good look around them.
Throughout history, there have been scientists and
skeptics alike in the search for naturalistic behavior
in the human race. The questions arise as to whom these
experts are that they think they can honestly say what
makes a person tick and just because someone behaves a
certain way, that they are a psychopath. Does an expert
really need to spend all that money to get an education
just to tell someone that they have bad behavior? Give
me a break! Anyone can do that if they just take the
time to understand people. A person should open their
eyes instead of having eyes wide shut.
Take for instance the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Is it
truly because our soldiers are needed to help protect
the citizens and to reform the country, or is there
another agenda? Our former president sure could not get
his stories straight as to why we were needed in
fighting a war on terror. Has it honestly ever been
proven that terrorists were the ones that really bombed
the World Trade Center, or did we just get caught with
our pants down and a story had to be told to cover up
the mistakes of the United States government. It is
certain that we will never know the absolute truth.
Wouldn't it be a tragedy to find out that it was
actually our own government that is waging a war on
terror. As long as there is corruption in politics, we
may never know all of the hidden truths about what is
really going on in the world.
There is also another war that is raging through our
country and that is the war on drugs. When you look at
this, you really have to ask yourself whether they are
talking about fighting wars under the influence of drugs
or about the actual prevention of drug use. One could
say that in preventing the legalization of drugs, lives
are being spared but when a person is arrested and
sentenced to prison for drug use, where are they going
to go when the prisons are already filled to the brim? I
guess that means more murderers, rapists, and child
molesters will be released early to make room for all of
the drug addicts. And what does this solve?
Another issue concerning drug addicts, is the fact that
the U.S. government sends monthly disability checks to
them to help them with their addictions. Why should we
as tax-payers, be responsible for supporting people with
bad habits. The only message that can be understood by
these people is I have money so let me buy more drugs.
Why don't they get out and find a job like everyone
else? It seems as though all we are doing is allowing
them to feed off of the American public and remain in
the same toilet that they are already in.
What about social networking? This seems to be a popular
subject in the media these days. Whether you are texting
on your cell phone or computer, facebooking or tweeting.
Is this really the way to find out what is going on in
the world or is this the best way to find Mr. or Miss
right and have a meaningful relationship? There is the
realization that the most common way to communicate
these days is with electronic devices, but is this the
safest way to communicate? You hear of people causing
car accidents because they are trying to text on their
cell phone and drive at the same time. Then there is
facebook, where a young girl committed suicide because
someone told her she was nothing or led a pedifile to
pretend that he was someone else just to kipnap and rape
our children. Then there are dating sites on the
internet. Is this really safe? How do you really know
that the person you are communicating with is whom they
say they are? The risks do not seem to matter to some
people. Maybe it is because they have no morals.
It is a shame that in order to get through life these
days, it is at the expense of everyone else that we
survive. Back in what they call the good old days,
people were happy and felt blessed just to have a job,
loving family, their church, and a decent roof over
their heads. What is truly wrong with our society today?
What is so logical about human behavior this day and
age? People need to wake up or they may just find out
that the world truly is coming to an end.
This page is a
personal rant by Aaaron Fletcher, in the hope that it
just MIGHT make a difference. Copyright? Who cares? | <urn:uuid:b5a1fc9c-c785-4a1d-8ddb-55ef9108e56e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lolgrims.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96902 | 1,209 | 1.796875 | 2 |
U.S. President Barack Obama is “deeply concerned” about violence in Egypt, the White House said Monday, calling for minority Copts to be protected and stressing the need for timely elections.
White House spokesman Jay Carney issued a statement after clashes in Cairo killed 25 people, mostly Coptic Christians and injured more than 300, sparking fears of widespread sectarian unrest.
“The president is deeply concerned about the violence in Egypt that has led to a tragic loss of life among demonstrators and security forces,” Carney said, expressing condolences to loved ones of the dead and injured.
“Now is a time for restraint on all sides so that Egyptians can move forward together to forge a strong and united Egypt.
“As the Egyptian people shape their future, the United States continues to believe that the rights of minorities –including Copts – must be respected, and that all people have the universal rights of peaceful protest and religious freedom.”
Carney noted the call for an investigation by Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf and called on all parties to refrain from violence.
“These tragic events should not stand in the way of timely elections and a continued transition to democracy that is peaceful, just and inclusive,” Carney said.
Meanwhile, women in Cairo’s Coptic hospital wailed for their dead as Christians accused Egypt’s generals of failing to protect them from strict Islamists.
“My brother, my brother, they killed my brother,” screamed one woman in black next to the hospital morgue where many of the dead from Sunday night’s clashes were brought. She leant on her weeping mother, surrounded by other women in the corridor.
Military police raced armored vehicles into a crowd of Christians who were protesting over an attack on the church in southern Egypt and demanding that Aswan governor Mostafa al-Sayed be dismissed for failing to protect it.
Christians have long grumbled about discrimination by the state and tensions with the majority Muslims have simmered. But violence has become more common with the rise of strict Salafist and other Islamist groups which Mubarak had repressed.
“Why didn’t they do this with the Salafists or the Muslim Brotherhood when they organize protests? This is not my country anymore,” said Alfred Younan, speaking near the hospital.
Christians, and some Muslim activists, said the army had used excessive force. Protesters pelted military police with stones, petrol bombs and set light to army and other vehicles in the worst violence since Hosni Mubarak was ousted on Feb 11.
The military-backed government says it does not discriminate and has promised to address Christian concerns.
But for many Christians, Sunday’s bloodshed was proof that the army council led by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi was ignoring the demands of a community which makes up about 10 percent of Egypt’s 80 million people.
“Tantawi you traitor, the blood of Copts is not cheap,” relatives and other Christians chanted outside the hospital. Others called: “The people want the toppling of Tantawi.”
Christian activists said the army used armoured vehicles to disperse protesters at Maspero, an area around the state television building, after other tactics failed. They described seeing corpses that had been crushed under the vehicles.
“Why did the army hit our children? They didn’t do it with those in Tahrir Square. Why is the army doing this?” said Tahany, a Christian woman who would not give her full name.
State television said three soldiers were among the dead.
‘Vehicles ran through us’
The scenes were a stark contrast to the army’s handling of protests early this year in Tahrir, the focus of anti-Mubarak demonstrations, when troops stood by even when violence raged.
Since then, however, military police have clashed with some demonstrators, including those who attacked the Israeli embassy.
“When we approached Maspero, the army fired upon us and their vehicles ran through us,” said Maged Adel, who said his friend’s father was wounded in the charge. He said protesters responded by hurling stones.
The army council called for a swift investigation and said it would exert every effort to ensure security.
The Coptic demonstration was in response to the partial demolition of a church last month in Aswan. Christians blamed that attack on Muslims who they said were acting after they heard the Christian building did not have authorisation.
It touches a raw nerve for Christians, who complain about laws they say make it easier to build mosques than churches. It is the latest of several attacks on churches blamed on those who follow a strict interpretation of Islam.
Christians say Prime Minister Essam Sharaf promised months ago to push through a law giving equal treatment for building all places of worship, but say the pledge has been neglected.
“The real problem is not mainly the Salafists or fundamentalist Islamists as we know they are there and we know they are attacking Copts and churches all the time,” said Youssef Sidhom, editor of Orthodox Coptic newspaper al-Watani.
“The problem is the severe reluctance of the cabinet and the authorities to enforce the rule of law and protect the Copts. The main demand of demonstrators (on Sunday) was that the authorities should arrest the criminals,” he said.
Egypt’s Orthodox Coptic Pope Shenouda echoed this in a statement expressing “horror” at the clashes, adding: “Problems are repeated without accountability for perpetrators ... or solving the issue at its root.”
He called on Christians to fast for three days in the hope that peace would return.
Many Muslim activists and politicians backed calls to address the concerns of Copts.
“The absence of the rule of law is the reason behind what happened. We have been demanding the discharge of the Aswan governor, but they ignored us and this is the result,” said Shady el-Ghazaly Harb from the Revolution Youth Coalition.
“Copts’ anger is very understandable,” he said. | <urn:uuid:104edeb6-1056-4287-beae-6d0e498faf98> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/10/171155.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968706 | 1,282 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Gerald C. (Gerry) Bateman is program director of the Master of Science in Secondary Education of Students Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (MSSE). A graduate of the State University of New York College at Geneseo (BS and MS) and the University of Rochester (Ed.D., Curriculum and Teaching), he has taught deaf and hard of hearing students at every educational level from elementary through graduate school. Dr. Bateman’s current teaching responsibilities include direct instruction of Curriculum Content and Methods of Instruction- Social Studies, a variety of independent studies and college supervisor for MSSE students completing their student teaching.
He holds permanent New York State certification to teach grades N-6, social studies (7-12) and deaf and hard-of-hearing students (K-12). He also holds professional certification from Council on Education of the Deaf, and has conducted workshops and presentations to K-12 teachers and college educators on social studies education, teaching methods and Deaf community issues at local, state, national and international conferences. He has published articles related to Deaf community issues and teaching methods in several journals. A member of Phi Delta Kappa, the Association of College Educators of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (lifetime member), Council of American Instructors of the Deaf (past treasurer and executive board member), National Association of the Deaf, National Council of the Social Studies and the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, he is also a past board member for the Council on Education of the Deaf. | <urn:uuid:fb8b86d1-1313-4213-a44d-d9e725dab0cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ntid.rit.edu/msse/facstaffbio_director.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955854 | 321 | 1.726563 | 2 |
U.S. Women Plan to Disregard Task Force Mammogram Recommendations
Posted Nov 24 2009 10:03pm
A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll of American women indicates that most of them plan to disregard the new recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force about mammograms. The poll also shows that most women sharply overestimate their risk of developing the disease.
The task force last week suggested that most women don't need mammograms on a routine basis until age 50. Women under 50 should consult their doctors to see if mammograms are approrpriate for them.
In the survey of 1,136 women, 76% said they disagree or strongly disagree with the recommendations, while 84% of women ages 35 to 49 said they plan to get mammograms before age 50 despite the task force recommendations.
But the poll found that most women have misconceptions about the disease and the panels' motives. Seventy-six percent the panel based its conclusions on cost, even though the task force's report included only scientific studies. Forty percent estimated that a 40-year-old's chance of developing breast cancer over the next decade is 20% to 50%. But the real risk is 1.4%, according to the National Cancer Institute. | <urn:uuid:15099905-d6fe-47cf-9e95-f2868ed9bff9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wellsphere.com/healthcare-industry-policy-article/u-s-women-plan-to-disregard-task-force-mammogram-recommendations/895096 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951057 | 255 | 1.78125 | 2 |
I'm so glad you picked those because we are about to make one of my favorite pies in the entire world. We’re going to make a chocolate bourbon pecan pie, all world southern classic. So we’re going to use some really good ingredients, some simple techniques and we’re going to make a really delicious pie here.
Now what we’re doing first is we’re going to start with a crust and I'm going to walk you the whole process, so you can really make it at home. All right, so what we got first is a cup of flour, right. We’re going to take a cup of flour. We’re going to put it right into a food processor and this is going to be the base for our crust. Now since we’re making a chocolate bourbon pecan pie, we’re actually takes some pecans and fold it into our crust as well to really kind of hit those flavors on.
All right, so we got equal parts. We got flour and ground pecans. So its cup of flour, cup of ground pecans and then, we’re also going to add two tablespoons of sugar to the crust itself. And then a pinch of salt, always really great for making a pie crust. You want to season it. And it actually helps the sugar and all those nuts and the great flavors, we’re going to add to this and come out a little butter. Then we’re going to take the top of the food processor. We’re going to put right on and we’re just going to whisk the whole thing around. All right, just until it’s completely well incorporated by all the flour and pecans, the sugar dissolve all equally mix together, all right, great.
Here's the second part of this. We’re going to take a whole stick of butter, cold stick of butter. It’s very, very important, right. We’re going to chop it in small pieces. Now the crust itself, some people like to use vegetable shortening. Some people like to use butter when it comes to pie crust. I like butter, so like the flavor a little better. All right, but either way, its got to be really cold because once it starts to bake, the cold butter is going to give your pie crust lots of flake and lots of lift.
All right, so we’ll take our cold chunks of butter and put it right on top. It rebuts it down one more time. Just the whole thing starts to look like wet sand. All right, it takes a second to come together. And this is what the holidays when it comes to baking, I like to use machines because it makes so efficient. You can really make a crust like two seconds flat.
Now if you see to start to come together like that, all right, one, two, three, boom. We got a dough, okay. Now what we’re going to do to this, we’re also going to add these two tablespoons maybe even one tablespoon of ice cold water to this. All right, so you're going to help to keep the fat nice and cold. Again, if you got nice cold fat inside the pie crust, it’s going to get a lot of lift and a lot of flake once it bakes. All right, a little bit of cold water and that’s it, one, two, three and you’ve got a beautiful pie crust.
All right, here's the deal, pie crust has to rest. So we've got a piece of plastic. We’re going to take the pie crust out of the food processor and we’re going to start right on top and we throw it in the fridge. Again, you want to keep the fat nice and cold. And you also want the dough nice and rested. That way you're going to ensure that you're going to get a nice big beautiful circle. It's not going to break up on your when you try to roll the whole thing out. So take the pie crust wrap it up, nice and tight. Keep the -- of it until we go into the fridge just like that for 30 minutes.
All right, cool. A quick little clean up and let me show you what our pie crust looks like once we get it to the plate. It’s a real simple process. You roll it out to one inch wider than pipe plate enable, a little bit of flour in the surface. All right and here's the process with crimping, right. It’s a really easy technique. You want to take the index finger of one hand and you will take the index finger and the thumb of the other. And you want to kind of create like a little gap. You crimp the whole crust just like this. It’s a good for kids to get into.
So you can get your little fingers inside of it. All right, we’ll crimp the whole crust all the way around. Now let's make the filling. The fillings are very simple and really rich. And this is where all the action happens. All right, so we've got a bowl here. And what we’re going to do is mix a couple of basic and simple ingredients. I've got some dark corn syrup. I got a cup of dark corn syrup and we should fold that in. Break it all out. And if you can see, all right, this is going to give a lot of texture and color. You can also use molasses for this recipe as well.
Now into this, we’re going to add three eggs and drop these in. and then, we’re going to add three tablespoons each of bourbon, a nice little splash. And if you don’t like bourbon or you don’t like the alcohol, you can totally leave it out. But again, it’s a really kind of classic on the recipe. Then we’re going to add a cup of sugar to this. And we’re going to add a tablespoon of really good pure vanilla extract. All right, just like that. Okay, now we’re going to take all of this and we’re going to whisk it together. Crack the yolks and just give it one good stir, all right.
Now it wouldn’t be chocolate pecan pie of course without chocolate. All right, so I've got two ounces of really good dark unsweetened chocolate and also half a stick of butter. And it’s kind of melted through here. And what we’re going to do is just take spatula and we’re just going to rake all the beautiful delicious. Look at that. Melt the chocolate right into our filling, okay. It smells delicious already. We’re going to stir one more time and that my friend is the filling for a beautiful bourbon chocolate pecan pie. Look at that.
Okay, so we take some pecans. We’re going to dip right across. I've got pecan halves that have not been toasted because we’re going to bake this off in the oven. And we’re going to put right into the bottom of the pie. I'm going to take all this, dip it right in just like that, all right. And then pecans will come right up to the surface when the whole thing starts to bake. All right, perfect.
Now, I've got my oven preset to 350 degrees. Let me just give it a little shake to make sure everything is nice and settled. And its going to bake for around 45 minutes or until the chocolate pecan pie is nice and fluffy on top because we’re going to have liked little kind of crunchy crust. It’s going to go right in just like that. Right in the middle on the rack and this is what the whole thing looks like when it’s done. That’s the hard part. You really have to keep your fork out of it until the whole thing start to cool down.
-- we take this whole, cut it nice and slice out of it. You start the knife in the middle just like that. Pull out a beautiful slice of chocolate pecan pie. Take a look at that and beautiful.
We've got some homemade whipped cream. Adds a little bit of coco on top just like that. It’s all about the chocolate. That’s what I'm talking about for the holidays. It’s a perfect dessert. It’s a chocolate bourbon pecan pie. | <urn:uuid:59c4f600-3334-42d8-98ed-6a086f7e4425> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://on.aol.com/video/bourbon-chocolate-pecan-pie-495343748 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935833 | 1,820 | 1.507813 | 2 |
India, Pak in war of words over Kashmir at UNGA
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In contrast to the peace moves on bilateral front, India and Pakistan played out a full-blown war of words on the Kashmir issue in the United Nations on Monday night with both sides stopping only after each had exhausted their quota of right of reply.
Each country can exercise the right of reply (RoR) twice on a particular issue. And well into the late hours of Monday, the final day of the weeklong UN General Assembly session, Indian and Pakistani officials were involved in an avoidable squabble over this.
It all started with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's reference to Kashmir, terming a "symbol of the failures" of the UN system and announcing Islamabad's support to the people of J&K to "choose their destiny."
This is standard utterance by Pakistan at the UNGA, which India has of late chosen to respond at a lower level. The odd year was 2010 when Pakistan sought to highlight the violent protests in J&K that year—an issue that did lead to a heated exchange, but again at the official level.
This time, however, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna decided to make a specific mention in his statement, terming Zardari's remarks as an "unwarranted reference." He reaffirmed the Indian position while lauding the democratic process in J&K and underlining that's it's an "integral part of India." Hardly was that done, Pakistan pushed in its request for a right of reply, which was duly stated by its Deputy Permanent Representative Raza Bashir Tarar. He said the Pakistan President's remarks were "not unwarranted" as he went on to add: "Let me also make it absolutely clear that Jammu & Kashmir is neither an integral part of India and nor has it ever been."
If that was not enough, the Indian side then staged its performance. Exercising its first right of reply, the Indian mission, represented by one of its Minister-level officers, stated that J&K "is and has always been an integral part of India." The Indian delegation then raised the pitch. "It is ironical that these comments have been made by a country which is persisting with its illegal occupation of a part of the Indian State of Jammu & Kashmir. These references constitute a clear interference in the internal affairs of India and we reject them in their entirety."
- Quake-hit and shaken, Bhaderwah spends nights in the open
- UP blast accused dies on way to jail, govt wanted to drop case against him
- Former civil aviation secy changes mind, seeks airport security exemption as EC
- BCCI suspects Gujarat players in other teams were also approached
- Police on money trail, Sreesanth in fresh trouble
- Chhattisgarh 'encounter' leaves 8 villagers dead, no Maoist link yet | <urn:uuid:52a6ff5a-cf56-4a48-b7de-e47cf8652a7d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.indianexpress.com/news/india-pak-in-war-of-words-over-kashmir-at-unga/1010963/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963634 | 690 | 1.789063 | 2 |
January 06, 2012
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 200,000 in December. Job gains occurred in transportation and warehousing, retail trade, manufacturing, health care, and mining.
Employment in the private sector rose by 212,000 in December, while government employment changed little over the month (−12,000).
In December, employment in transportation and warehousing rose sharply (+50,000). Almost all of the gain occurred in the couriers and messengers industry (+42,000); seasonal hiring was particularly strong in December.
Retail trade continued to add jobs in December, with a gain of 28,000. Job gains continued in general merchandise stores (+13,000) and in clothing and clothing accessories stores (+11,000).
In December, manufacturing employment expanded by 23,000, following 4 months of little change. Employment increased in December in transportation equipment (+9,000), fabricated metals (+6,000), and machinery (+5,000).
Health care (part of education and health services) continued to add jobs in December (+23,000); employment in hospitals increased by 10,000.
Construction employment changed little in December. Within the industry, nonresidential specialty trade contractors added 20,000 jobs over the month, mostly offsetting losses over the prior 2 months.
In December, government employment changed little. Job losses in 2011 occurred in local government; state government, excluding education; and the U.S. Postal Service.
These data are from the Current Employment Statistics program. These data are seasonally adjusted, and data for the most recent two months are preliminary. To learn more, see "The Employment Situation — December 2011," (HTML) (PDF) news release USDL-12-0012.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Editor's Desk, Payroll employment increases by 200,000 in December 2011 on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2012/ted_20120106.htm (visited May 22, 2013).
This edition of Spotlight on Statistics examines labor productivity trends from 2000 through 2010 for selected industries and sectors within the nonfarm business sector of the U.S. economy. Read more » | <urn:uuid:c3f7d63e-2d27-4350-966c-ccbbce9fca6d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/print.pl/opub/ted/2012/ted_20120106.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936239 | 460 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Robert Olen Butler’s new novel, A Small Hotel, follows the final falling-apart of a long marriage, set in a room in the Olivier House in the French Quarter—the couple had fallen in love in that hotel, and it’s where the wife returned the day before the divorce proceedings.
By all indications, it sounds like a solid book, praised by critics across the board (it’s on Oprah’s summer reading list), but those attentive to Butler’s personal trajectory might be unable to read it without the nagging recollection of his own (very public) divorce a few years ago from poet Elizabeth Dewberry.
An article from March in the LA Times ‘Jacket Copy’ section—which is still alive, despite the LA Times’ book review laying off all its freelancers—describes why A Small Hotel might be a bad idea: because it parallels somewhat closely Dewberry’s divorce of Butler, with hints of her childhood molestation by her grandfather, who apparently looked like Ted Turner, for whom Dewberry left Butler. This all came out via an elaborate email from Butler to a grad student that Gawker got ahold of and spread around the world. Yikes. | <urn:uuid:790e571d-d61e-41d3-85b1-3817fc084994> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://press-street.com/the-divorce-book-following-the-divorce-robert-olen-butlers-a-small-hotel/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940343 | 254 | 1.53125 | 2 |
adamposey wrote:If there is no such guide on getting started perhaps we could create one in this thread, and learn by teaching?
adamposey wrote:Thanks for sending me those sources, as they (in combination with other sources here on this forum) have been very enlightening on matters of meditation in particular. I'm going to attempt to attend a beginner's meditation retreat at Bhavana Society in the spring so I hope my work and school schedules will be conducive to doing that. I feel it best to learn from those who have practiced for a long time.
Now, onto the meat and potatoes, when it comes to actual practice and studying. Should I be listening to dhamma talks primarily or would I be best to study suttas daily on my own, to start?
A "wholesome" Spring Break could be a good idea. If they don't have any introductory retreats during that time, you could always just take a trip over there to visit and talk with the monks. It's a beautiful place.
Both; whichever you have time for and enjoy more if you need to focus on one over the other.
clw_uk wrote:I would recommend Ajahn Chah and Ajahn Buddhadasa
Lots of other teachers here as well
I personally recommend to read the following first:
Ajahn Buddhadasa (kinda the essential of Buddhism)
http://www.what-buddha-taught.net/Books ... o_Tree.htm
Ajahn Chah (collection of his teachings)
http://ajahnchah.org/pdf/the_teachings_ ... ah_web.pdf
Registered users: Bakmoon, Bhikkhu Cintita, Bing [Bot], BuddhaSoup, Coyote, EmptyShadow, fivebells, Google [Bot], Lazy_eye, Majjhima Patipada, mettafuture, mirco, Oleksandr, onaquest, photonist, polarbuddha101, reflection | <urn:uuid:c8256924-b035-4f33-8a9a-cb6874609a29> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?p=33169 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94813 | 425 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Gazette Editorial Board
Cedar Rapids government is aiming for more fairness in the fees that pay for upkeep of the city’s 460-plus miles of storm sewers. The Infrastructure Committee’s proposed tiered fee system, if approved by the City Council, would be a step in the right direction. It also should not be the last.
Cedar Rapids currently relies on a flat fee of $4.78 a month for all property owners, regardless of size. It raises enough for basic maintenance but is running about $1 million a year short of what’s needed for replacement projects.
The committee’s plan creates nine different rates based on the size of a property. The residential rate wouldn’t change. At the other end, the 370 largest properties (greater than 6 acres) would pay $133.84 per month.
The tiered system would raise enough additional revenue to cover the shortfall. That’s good and necessary. Storm sewers are part of a city’s basic infrastructure and shouldn’t be neglected.
What the proposal doesn’t do is just as important in the long run: substantially reduce the amount of runoff into the stormsewer system.
The city’s Stormwater Commission preferred a plan that would create financial incentives for property owners to do more to control urban runoff, too much of which floods, erodes and funnels pollutants into our waterways via the storm sewers. That proposal called for a system that uses an equivalent residential unit (ERU) — figure how much stormwater leaves a typical residential lot, then charge fees based on how many ERUs of runoff comes from larger properties with more impervious surfaces. Iowa City, Des Moines, Davenport and Waterloo use ERUs.
Large property owners would pay considerably more under an ERU system. However, there also would be incentives: lower fees if they implement practices and structural controls that reduce their properties’ runoff.
However, the threat of significantly higher fees upfront led to pushback from commercial and industrial property owners.
In a city that knows all too well the disastrous effects of flooding, clearing undue obstacles to business recovery and growth is vital. So is reducing our flood exposure and runoff problems, which will only get worse if development practices aren’t modified.
It may take a phased-in approach to make the latter happen on a level that makes a difference. But happen it should.
n Comments: [email protected] or (319) 398-8262 | <urn:uuid:8762d83d-3131-450d-9b95-f2b018129b4a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thegazette.com/2012/10/10/fairer-fees-dont-address-runoff-problems/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936958 | 521 | 1.765625 | 2 |
10. The allocation of the Manitoba quantity to a primary producer or remanufacturer who applies for an export allocation is calculated in accordance with the formula
MQ × (EM/TEM)
- is the Manitoba quantity;
- is the volume of the primary producer’s or remanufacturer’s products that were exported from Manitoba to the United States under export permits during the reference period; and
- is the total volume of the primary producers’ and remanufacturers’ products that were exported from Manitoba to the United States under export permits during the reference period, excluding the volume of products of primary producers and remanufacturers who indicate in writing to the Minister before December 14, 2007 that they relinquish their allocation of the Manitoba quantity for 2008.
11. The allocation of the Saskatchewan quantity to a primary producer or remanufacturer is based on the order of receipt of applications for the export allocation, with each applicant receiving the volume applied for until the Saskatchewan quantity is fully allocated.
COMING INTO FORCE
12. This Order comes into force on the day on which it is registered.
- Date modified: | <urn:uuid:90450c91-7d1a-43c4-a8d1-b1dd85a2bdee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2007-305/page-4.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947343 | 231 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Fundraisers See Disappointing Response to Recent Disasters
The comparisons between relief efforts for Gustav pale in comparison to those surrounding Katrina: Catholic Charities, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, raised $179,000 for current hurricane relief. For Katrina, the organization received $150 million, a whopping 839 times as much. Organizations such as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army cite the current economic climate as well as the way governmental agencies now impact private organizations. The Red Cross has consequently turned to Congress, asking for $150 million to support hurricane victims.
[via The Chronicle of Philanthropy] | <urn:uuid:df72d126-696b-4a3f-a096-3eb7c049617f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.luxist.com/2008/09/27/fundraisers-see-disappointing-response-to-recent-disasters/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945588 | 125 | 1.570313 | 2 |
By Jill Howard-Church on
So just as many of us ultimately decided that our individual humane values precluded eating Grandma's cherished meatloaf any more, so too must states, nations and peoples acquiesce to a higher ethic that says, at the very least, that killing animals for sport, entertainment, ornamentation or any other "traditional" reason isn't acceptable any more
When people think of Hawaii, they think of blue waves, green palm trees, and...bloody chickens? Apparently not, although the Hawaii state legislature almost made it so. A proposed resolution - which thankfully failed in committee - would have recognized the "cultural value" of cockfighting there, supposedly because of the region's Filipino heritage.
Cockfighting is illegal in Hawaii, but is only a misdemeanor and reportedly seldom enforced. Why a state famous for its humpback whales would want to be infamous for its fighting chickens is beyond me, but the question raises the larger issue of why cruelty toward animals is allowed to persist for "cultural" reasons.
A similar debate is taking place this time of year in northeastern Canada, where thousands of young seals are clubbed to death in what the Canadian government characterizes as "a time-honoured tradition" and "an important part of Canada's cultural heritage."
In Israel, a proposed nationwide ban on the sale of fur - the first of its kind in the world - is being opposed by ultra-Orthodox Jews who believe the ban violates their religious tradition of wearing sable-trimmed shtreimel, even though the hats would be exempt from the ban.
Add that to Japanese and Icelandic whaling, the killing of tigers in India and China, the slaughter of rhinos in Africa, fox hunting in Britain and more, and you've got a worldwide debate over whether the killing of certain animals for certain purposes can be considered excusable based on "tradition." Indeed, the annual Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Endangered Flora and Fauna (CITES), which recently met in Qatar, often involves debate over the regulation of "cultural" practices that involve killing wildlife. One country's "culture" is another nation's abomination.
I've got a satirical poster that shows a photo of the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, with the caption, "Just because you've always done it that way doesn't mean it's not incredibly stupid." And in the case of animal slaughter, just because your ancestors did horribly cruel things to animals out of superstition, greed or ignorance doesn't mean that practice has a right to continue in the 21st century. We apply that standard to the treatment of human beings who have been enslaved, exploited or mutilated in the name of "tradition," and we ought to have the collective humane dignity to apply it to animals as well.
I don't mean to sound culturally insensitive. I know what it means to cling to things that, in the stark light of day, aren't defensible. My favorite football team - whose games, in my family, rivaled the reverence of the Sunday church services that preceded them - was named after Native Americans decades ago but admittedly sounds offensive today.
So just as many of us ultimately decided that our individual humane values precluded eating Grandma's cherished meatloaf any more, so too must states, nations and peoples acquiesce to a higher ethic that says, at the very least, that killing animals for sport, entertainment, ornamentation or any other "traditional" reason isn't acceptable any more. Surely a culture of kindness would be a far greater legacy for the generations that follow.
Jill Howard-Church is a writer and editor who specializes in animal issues. She serves as the part-time communications director for the Animals and Society Institute, and is the volunteer president of the Vegetarian Society of Georgia. | <urn:uuid:19ecc1bd-89b4-4ece-897f-28ea9a1343a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.all-creatures.org/articles/ar-sayculture.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963921 | 788 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Friday (Pascual Perez and the 1983 Braves) edition: Wha' Happened?
- Blog Post by: Michael Rand
- November 2, 2012 - 9:13 AM
The 1983 Braves are really the first specific baseball team we remember. We were 6 years old during that season, and our tiny black-and-white TV at home in Grand Forks (this is not a joke -- we did not have a color TV until, we believe, 1986) was equipped with roughly 12 channels -- one of them being The Superstation, known primarily these days as TBS, which showed pretty much every Braves game.
We like to think of this era as the time Before We Knew Too Much. This works on multiple levels. We were young, so the things that happened to ballplayers outside the lines of play did not register. So we, as a kid, did not know too much. On the field, there were scouting reports and other such competitive mechanisms. But there weren't such advanced metrics, made possible and easy by the digital age. Baseball was still ruled by conventional wisdom and varying levels of machismo between the pitcher and hitter. And also, seeing as how this was nearly 30 years ago, the masses didn't have access to all this information, either. If you wanted to hear the Dodgers score, you waited. If you wanted to call Jeffrey Leonard a no-good hot dogging [redacted], you said it to the guy at the bar or the guy at work ... or you said it into your hat. You did not say it on Twitter, where theoretically countless millions of people could either agree or disagree instantly.
We had no idea what OPS was, but we sure loved the 1983 Braves. Looking back on it now, they were a stat guy's dream (and we were totally into stats back then, even if it wasn't cool. In our great nerd-hood, we would organize all of our baseball cards by team and then add up all the stats of all the players. We will not tell you the approximate year in which this stopped). Look at those on base percentages! We remember Bruce Benedict as a light-hitting catcher with a good glove, but the guy had 61 walks and just 24 K's that year! Dale Murphy, our favorite player of all-time, scored 131 runs!
If anything let them down (outside of Bob Horner's injury) -- after winning the division the year before, they fell a few games short in 1983 -- it was the pitching. But if there is one truth about the pitching, it is this: Pascual Perez was not to blame. While Craig McMurtry was a pleasant surprise as a 15-game winning rookie (a season that proved to be his career highlight), Perez was the staff anchor. Those numbers -- 15-8, 3.43 ERA, 51 walks, 144 K's -- are rock solid. But the best part about Perez: he was wacky. He used to try to pick off runners by stepping off the rubber, bending over and throwing between his legs if they weren't getting back to the base. He did all sorts of other memorable stuff.
He was particularly noted for his crazy baseball card pictures. The one we showed you above is actually pretty tame, but it does have one real peculiarity: it says "Twins" on the glove. It's an error card, of course -- an oversight made three decades ago, no doubt by an overworked Donruss proofreader.
And now? Well, now we know way too much. We know Perez was suspended multiple times during his MLB career for drug use. And we know he was killed this week in the Dominican Republic, at his home, in a terrible act of violence.
It's times like this that make you long for the time when controversy meant Glenn Hubbard's Fleer snake card -- the time Before We Knew Too Much.
© 2013 Star Tribune | <urn:uuid:2817de56-8463-4927-a895-0eae7a7a08c1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.startribune.com/printarticle/?id=176954951 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981642 | 806 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Saving Money by Using What You Have
I can freely admit that the creative part of my brain is often underused and perhaps even undervalued. I am used to routines, schedules and deviating from the normal can be hard for me. Yet this year I’ve been more determined to be a wise steward and make do with what I have.
My husband made a delicious dinner for New Years and I was in charge of dessert. I have always been a fan of pudding parfaits and wanted to make them in fancy, festive glasses. The only problem is we don’t have any fancy, festive glasses. So I looked through my cupboards and this is what I found. Festive canning jars. They may not have been fancy glasses, but they were better than our usual plastic ware.
One bad habit that I’ve picked up is spending hours skimming through various tot school blogs looking for ideas for creative play for my son. I often think if I had this cool toy, or these expensive art supplies my son will be happier in his play. I don’t take into consideration the fun stuff I have just lying around the house. While I was cleaning up the kitchen I ran into an empty cinnamon jar. It was going to find an immediate new home in the trash, but I decided to give it to my son with some shortened spaghetti so he could do this.
Both of these ideas were quick, easy substitutions that didn’t cost a cent but still fulfilled their functions.
See more ways to save at Lifeasmom’s Frugal Friday.
- Saving Money by Using What You Have
- Toddler’s Toy from Recyclables
- Computer in for a Check-Up
- Lessons Learned From “The Tightwad Gazette” | <urn:uuid:30cc584d-f7b9-4eb9-a9f9-18f2f2f96a14> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ononeincome.com/saving-money/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975691 | 376 | 1.640625 | 2 |
How would you like to be rid of all bank fees? Laura Thornquist shares today's "Insider Savings" tips that can help you save some money.
Did you know just 45 percent of non-interest checking accounts are now free?
It sounds too good to be true, but First Community Bank in Dallas has started a "free for all" by cutting all fees on checking and savings accounts. This could save you up to $150 per year and there is no minimum balance or deposit.
So, if you want to save some "bread" or just make some toast, visit my website because 10 people who tell us that they could use more bread will get a free toaster thanks to Community Bank in Dallas.
A little side savings note, if you do still write checks, check out several online printers before buying. It's always cheaper to order four boxes versus just one at a time, and there are big price differences from several different sites.
And ready get your groove on for half off? If you want to see "Bring it On: The Musical" at Fair Park, I have a deal for half off your tickets.
Now through February 26 you can get 50 percent off tickets Tuesday through Thursday and on Sunday night in price levels four and five. Use the code POMPOM when you order your tickets.
The explosive new musical comedy is about the world of competitive cheerleading, you should jump at this opportunity!
How about a free scarf? Just sign up at sneakpeak.com, an online shopping marketplace, and you get one free as a thank you for being a member.
Finally, spend your birthday at Benihana this year. If you sign up for Benihana's free chef's table program, you get a $30 dining certificate to use in your birthday month. | <urn:uuid:9db2f175-a07f-4625-b9b7-0c8db7c63424> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wfaa.com/news/daybreak/money-saver/Insider-Savings-Free-for-all-checking-musical-deal-and-more-139437908.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939145 | 371 | 1.609375 | 2 |
By Karen Fitzgerald for Illinois Times
Yoga is hardly the first thing that comes to mind as an activity for male prisoners. But two inmates who teach yoga classes at a state prison near Canton believe it is ideal for prison life.
“Yoga is my sunrise,” says Marshawn Feltus. “I want yoga every day.” Quite a few others at the Illinois River Correctional Center agree with him. More than 150 prisoners attend yoga classes at the medium security prison every week. It is the first prison in Illinois to include yoga in recreation activities, but it joins hundreds of prisons across the country that have incorporated it as an aid to rehabilitating prisoners.
Cory Foster, a senior policy advisor with the Illinois Department of Corrections, says yoga provides prisoners with skills and mindsets that can ease their transition into the community and reduce the number of repeat offenders. In April the Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet introduced a volunteer-run rehabilitation program that incorporates yoga techniques.
The classes at the Illinois River prison are unique in that they were initiated by an inmate. “I was doing yoga in my cell, and more and more guys kept asking me about it,” explains Bartosz Leszczynski. “I wanted to pass on the benefits to them.” Not only did yoga help him recover from a serious back injury (as a prisoner he wasn’t entitled to surgery), he says he’s become more in tune with himself and his surroundings. “It’s changed my life completely from five, six or seven years ago. It’s changed my whole perspective to where I don’t even feel like I’m in prison any more. What is prison? Is it a fence, a building? Or a state of mind?”
When classes began in January 2009, only five to ten men attended, using bath towels for mats — or nothing at all on the thin-carpeted floor. Other prisoners viewed yoga as effeminate and the students as “woosies.” “But a lot of the guys who were saying that are some of our best students now,” chuckles Leszczynski. “The stigma is gone.”
Rick Fahnestock, the recreation supervisor at the prison, says although the administration was initially shocked by Leszczynski’s proposal, the warden permitted some test runs of the class. “It took a while for the security and non-security people and the inmate population to get on board,” Fahnestock says, “but now it is completely accepted and we’ve got good participation.” Security staff have noticed the students are less angry and more cooperative, in part because students know they’ll be taken off the class roster if they cause problems.
“We are a peaceful group,” Feltus says. “We will do what’s required of us to continue the classes.” He began taking the classes because his body was “breaking down” from working out with weights. “The first session was so calming,” he says. “Bartosz comes across as so peaceful. I wanted what he had.”
When a work assignment prevented Leszcyzynski from teaching classes on weekdays, his cellmate and then Feltus took over for him. Now teaching five classes a week, Feltus believes yoga has had a profound effect on the students. “Once you peel back the layers of ego and deal with the heart of a prisoner, he evolves to something different.” Having served 18 years for first-degree murder, he adds that yoga has allowed him to work on himself and to accentuate his better inner qualities. “You have to have something to replace the behaviors, to erase that mental trail of what you’ve been doing to start fresh.”
Leszczynski, who was imprisoned for home invasion, realizes how odd it sounds for convicted thieves, murderers and rapists to be working side by side on proper posture and breathing. “Yoga is the best classroom for everybody, no matter who you are. Whether you’re a saint or a sinner, no one makes any judgments.” | <urn:uuid:ad28d829-ac90-4b0b-979d-34bc83ac615b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.prisondharmanetwork.net/profiles/blogs/yoga-blossoms-in-canton-prison?xg_source=activity | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976079 | 896 | 1.585938 | 2 |
I was blogging about opening lines the other day, and looking for examples. I came across the opening to American Gods, and realized that it's neither flashy nor something that will grab the reader in an obvious way, but it's quite effective and hooks the reader into the story very well. I'm just not sure how it's doing this. Far from being a traditionally attention-getting opening, this one is a slower, gentler seduction of the reader into the book's world:
Shadow had done three years in prison. He was big enough, and looked don't-fuck-with-me enough that his biggest problem was killing time. So he kept himself in shape, and taught himself coin tricks, and thought a lot about how much he loved his wife.
The best thing--in Shadow's opinion, perhaps the only good thing--about being in prison was a feeling of relief. The feeling that he'd plunged as low as he could plunge and he'd hit bottom. He didn't worry that the man was going to get him, because the man had got him. He did not awake in prison with a feeling of dread; he was no longer scared of what tomorrow might bring, because yesterday had brought it.
It did not matter, Shadow decided, if you had done what you had been convicted of or not. In his experience everyone he met in prison was aggrieved about something: there was always something the authorities had got wrong, something they said you did when you didn't--or you didn't do quite like they said you did. What was important was that they had got you.
He had noticed it in the first few days, when everything, from the slang to the bad food, was new. Despite the misery and the utter skin-crawling horror of incarceration, he was breathing relief.
Of course, whether this is good writing or not is subjective, but I'd be interested in learning why this works on these terms. Why do we want to know more? What's keeping us reading? Is the informal language part of that? Is it Shadow's self-acceptance and confidence that's so attractive? | <urn:uuid:540fba10-15b0-46c6-a4e5-528a7c34ea3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/5159/slow-openings-what-is-it-about-this-neil-gaiman-opening-that-pulls-the-reader-i | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.995059 | 436 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Explorer Mike Fay took an 1,800-mile hike through the redwood forest, seeking its salvation. Read the magazine cover story.
Redwoods reign only along the Pacific coast, from southern Oregon to Big Sur. See Micheal Nichols' photos of the last of the giants.
An interactive time line traces history on the rings of one redwood from California, and a map tracks Mike Fay's transect.
Watch as Michael Nichols and his team make a photograph that had never before been attempted. | <urn:uuid:2160e7ca-83e5-4f72-97b6-fd29b1f797a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/redwoods/redwoods | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94743 | 104 | 1.632813 | 2 |
New shop offers resources for home-schooling families
By Janice Steinhagen - Staff Writer
Jewett City - posted Mon., Nov. 12, 2012
Home-schooling families – or any family with growing children – now have a new local resource for textbooks and other educational materials. The Curriculum Coop, which opened Nov. 2 in the Slater Mill Mall, aims at helping home-school teachers and their students find reasonably-priced materials to enhance their learning experience.
The shop is the brainchild of Robin and Dave McCleary of Griswold, who have been home-schooling their four daughters from the time their eldest, Melissa, was in second grade. “I was searching online for a business like this,” said Robin. “When I did not come up with one, that got the wheels turning.”
Dave said that the store will offer textbooks for all levels of students, from preschool through college. It also offers general-interest books, educational games and materials such as flash cards, and books for adult readers. There’s a shelf of faith-based books and one featuring videos and DVDs. “We wanted to make it a little broader than just home-school,” he said. “Most of our hardbacks are $5 or less.”
The store will take books on a quarterly consignment basis, offering sellers 25 percent of the sale price in cash or check, or 40 percent in store credit. Dave said that the store hopes to serve as an outlet for books by local authors: currently they have Glen Alan Cheney’s “Thanksgiving” prominently displayed for the upcoming holiday, along with “Grant the Ant,” a picture book by Suzette Bessette.
While families looking for curriculum materials can find “amazing resources” online, the results can be hit or miss, and may not fit an individual child’s learning style, said Robin. Internet shopping can’t compare to “the ability to come and sit down with a stack of books and look through them,” she said. “It’s a great thing when you’re trying to pick out things for your kids.”
The store features a country theme, with framed alphabet prints by Vermont artist Mary Azarian and a light fixture fashioned from canning jars. The shelves are slowly filling up with books and there’s a computer in one corner, but there’s also plenty of sit-down space for the shop’s Saturday story hours. Tutoring in a variety of subjects will be available, thanks to Melissa McCleary, who recently graduated with honors from the University of Connecticut.
Robin said plans are afoot for a community bulletin board and a barter board, where parents can trade skills such as tutoring French for violin lessons or other educational opportunities. She said she’d also like to see special interest book clubs, open to anyone in the community, meeting at the store. “We have high hopes,” she said.
The Curriculum Coop is open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 1-5 p.m. on Sunday. | <urn:uuid:69b643c2-97a3-4354-a541-e47eba5c451f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.remindernews.com/article/2012/11/12/new-shop-offers-resources-for-home-schooling-families | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959342 | 673 | 1.648438 | 2 |
1 During the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, the
LORD said to me, "Jeremiah,
2 since the time Josiah was king, I have been speaking to you about Israel, Judah, and the other nations. Now, get a scroll and write down everything I have told you,
3 then read it to the people of Judah. Maybe they will stop sinning when they hear what terrible things I plan for them. And if they turn to me, I will forgive them."
4 I sent for Baruch son of Neriah and asked him to help me. I repeated everything the LORD had told me, and Baruch wrote it all down on a scroll.
5 Then I said, Baruch, the officials refuse to let me go into the LORD's temple,
6 so you must go instead. Wait for the next holy day when the people of Judah come to the temple to pray and to go without eating. Then take this scroll to the temple and read it aloud.
7 The LORD is furious, and if the people hear how he is going to punish them, maybe they will ask to be forgiven.
8 In the ninth month of the fifth year that Jehoiakim was king, the leaders set a day when everyone who lived in Jerusalem or who was visiting here had to pray and go without eating. So Baruch took the scroll to the upper courtyard of the temple. He went over to the side of the courtyard and stood in a covered area near New Gate, where he read the scroll aloud. This covered area belonged to Gemariah, one of the king's highest officials.
9 (SEE 36:8)
10 (SEE 36:8)
11 Gemariah's son Micaiah was there and heard Baruch read what the LORD had said.
12 When Baruch finished reading, Micaiah went down to the palace. His father Gemariah was in the officials' room, meeting with the rest of the king's officials, including Elishama, Delaiah, Elnathan, and Zedekiah.
13 Micaiah told them what he had heard Baruch reading to the people.
14 Then the officials sent Jehudi and Shelemiah to tell Baruch, "Bring us that scroll." When Baruch arrived with the scroll,
15 the officials said, "Please sit down and read it to us," which he did.
16 After they heard what was written on the scroll, they were worried and said to each other, "The king needs to hear this!" Turning to Baruch, they asked,
17 "Did someone tell you what to write on this scroll?"
18 "Yes, Jeremiah did," Baruch replied. "I wrote down just what he told me."
19 The officials said, "You and Jeremiah must go into hiding, and don't tell anyone where you are."
20 The officials put the scroll in Elishama's room and went to see the king, who was in one of the rooms where he lived and worked during the winter. It was the ninth month of the year, so there was a fire burning in the fireplace, and the king was sitting nearby. After the officials told the king about the scroll, he sent Jehudi to get it. Then Jehudi started reading the scroll to the king and his officials.
21 (SEE 36:20)
22 (SEE 36:20)
23 But every time Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king would tell him to cut them off with his penknife and throw them in the fire. Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah begged the king not to burn the scroll, but he ignored them, and soon there was nothing left of it. The king and his servants listened to what was written on the scroll, but they were not afraid, and they did not tear their clothes in sorrow.
24 (SEE 36:23)
25 (SEE 36:23)
26 The king told his son Jerahmeel to take Seraiah and Shelemiah and to go arrest Baruch and me. But the LORD kept them from finding us.
27 I had told Baruch what to write on that first scroll, but King Jehoiakim had burned it. So the LORD told me
28 to get another scroll and write down everything that had been on the first one.
29 Then he told me to say to King Jehoiakim: Not only did you burn Jeremiah's scroll, you had the nerve to ask why he had written that the king of Babylonia would attack and ruin the land, killing all the people and even the animals.
30 So I, the LORD, promise that you will be killed and your body thrown out on the ground. The sun will beat down on it during the day, and the frost will settle on it at night. And none of your descendants will ever be king of Judah.
31 You, your children, and your servants are evil, and I will punish all of you. I warned you and the people of Judah and Jerusalem that I would bring disaster, but none of you have listened. So now you are doomed!
32 After the LORD finished speaking to me, I got another scroll and gave it to Baruch. Then I told him what to write, so this second scroll would contain even more than was on the scroll Jehoiakim had burned. | <urn:uuid:05a52064-53cd-49b9-beda-8733a032cecf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bible.gen.nz/amos/bible/jer36.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986508 | 1,131 | 1.757813 | 2 |
My childhood and teenage years were shaped quite a bit by the fact that my dad was a lawyer and then a judge. Building and presenting a logical and convincing argument was a favorite family pastime. We engaged in (usually) friendly debate the way other families play Scrabble. As my father’s child, I learned the art of pursuing an argument. As a parent and a teacher, I have learned the art of ending one.
Often times, when we find ourselves engaged in an argument with children, the logic is sometimes lacking. But that doesn’t matter much to the child. It all makes perfect sense to him. He still wants a sucker for breakfast in spite of the fact that you already told him he needs to choose from one of the healthy options. She wants to play at her friend’s house NOW, even though you’ve explained that her playdate is tomorrow. Often, we get passionate arguments when children realize the consequences of their choices and are trying to escape. Susan begs for you to pick up the puzzle pieces, even though she is the one who threw them. When a discussion with a child reaches the point that you find that logic isn’t going to bring you eye-to-eye and that you’re simply going around in circles, it’s time to disengage.
Disengaging means you, as the adult, has to take the high road and stop feeding the flames so that the fire of argument can go out rather than flare into an all-consuming inferno. Monitoring your attitude and voice, very kindly and softly explain just one last time what the situation is, so that the child knows he has been heard. Then follow it up with a terminal statement.
Here’s how that would sound: “John, I understand that you want to watch the show. But you chose to play with your Legos for twenty more minutes instead. That time is gone and now it’s time for bed. I love you too much to argue about this anymore.” “Sasha, I understand that you want a sucker, but I don’t even have any. So I’m not going to argue about it anymore.” “Tyler, I know you want to paint now, but your name is right here on the sign up list. So as soon as Ellen is done it will be your turn. Arguing with me won’t change where your name is on the list, so we’re not going to talk about it anymore.”
I can’t stress enough the importance of monitoring your tone and temper as you make these statements. The point of disengaging is to diffuse the situation. If you say all the right words, but with all the wrong non-verbal cues, you’ve just upped the tension. Say it calmly, give a little hug, and then stick to it. You can’t disengage and then jump back into the argument when the child inevitably tries one last shot. You can ignore, change the subject (“Now who wants to read this hilarious story?”), or calmly repeat your terminal statement (“I love you too much to argue about this.” or “We’re not going to talk about this anymore.”) like a broken record.
Sometimes a child will turn from an argument to a tantrum when she sees that you have decided to disengage. Treat that as a new situation. (Check out my Tools for Tantrums and see if that helps.) Give the child space and help her to get control. Then offer some choices of where to go from here. (“Do you want to play with some playdough now, or go play outside?” “Do you want to pick up those puzzle pieces now or in five minutes?”) Trying to reason with them while they are out of control, going back to the argument, or simply caving aren’t options.
You’ll find that as you are consistent in disengaging, it will become more effective in the future. This practice lets the child know that we each own our own behavior. Just as he gets to make his choices, you, as the adult, make yours. When you choose not to argue, you are modeling positive behavior. So even if you are a passionate arguer like I am, with careful application, you’ll find that you can “win” more arguments, simply by ending them.
Positive guidance posts start here!
Positive Guidance Toolbox can be found here!
Top photo by davidlat. | <urn:uuid:31fdfeb7-1b38-4ac9-b0f4-7131919cee03> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://notjustcute.com/2010/02/26/positive-guidance-tools-of-the-trade-disengage/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964576 | 964 | 1.84375 | 2 |
SOURCE: Reputation Changer, LLC
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Jan 14, 2013) - For years, users of online review sites like Yelp.com have taken for granted that they can say anything and everything they want about businesses and brands -- but a recent legal controversy is throwing that into question. An article from Reuters notes that a Virginia judge has spoken out against online review sites, and that his words quickly drew the ire of free speech defenders from organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The controversy has put online review sites like Yelp back in the spotlight -- and drawn the attention of Reputation Changer. The company has issued a new statement to the press, weighing in on the Reuters article.
"Reuters makes the point that, for amateur online critics, the consequences of posting a review could potentially be dire," says Cliff Stein, the CEO of Reputation Changer. "What the author means is that, if you post a negative review of a major business or brand, you may find yourself embroiled in a defamation suit. This may be true, but, whatever the potential consequences for online reviewers, the consequences of online reviews are even direr for businesses and brands. At Reputation Changer, complaints and negative online reviews are regarded as true threats to any enterprise, because, regardless of how truthful these reviews are, they are absolutely taken seriously by consumers."
Stein continues his explanation of why online complaints and reviews are so important to business owners. "The simple truth is that, more and more, consumers are coming to base purchasing decisions on the reviews they read on sites like Yelp.com," he claims. "A positive review could mean more sales for the company in question, but a defamatory review could scare away potential customers, lead to lost sales, and ultimately drive the business to ruin. So while there may be some minor risks associated with penning defamatory reviews, they are nothing compared to the damage that bad reviews do to businesses and brands."
Cliff Stein also says that negative reviews are not always posted by reasonable and honest consumers. "Lamentably, 'freedom of speech' is used as an excuse for all kinds of online misbehavior," he opines. "People can get away with anything on the Web, which means that bad reviews can be posted by business rivals, by disgruntled employees, really by anyone."
The point of all of this, Stein continues, is that online complaints and defamatory reviews can all but destroy a business -- and that no business is impervious to this threat. The good news is that business owners can take action to protect their brands against these acts of online defamation. "By enlisting the services of an online reputation management firm, like Reputation Changer, companies can minimize the threat of these bad reviews," enthuses Stein.
Reputation Changer serves businesses and brands by providing them with services in review suppression and brand enhancement. "Businesses come to us when they have been besieged by bad reviews, on sites like Yelp or Angie's List," explains Stein. "While we cannot simply make those reviews go away, we can render them non-issues, pushing them out of the way and ensuring that they are seen by as few people as possible. We basically bury these bad reviews under new, brand-enhancing content -- content designed to present the client in the best light possible."
For Reputation Changer, that is what it is all about: helping the client's brand to shine. "At Reputation Changer, complaints and online reviews are addressed quickly and decisively, because we know how damaging they can be," says Stein. "We seek to diminish their impact, and to help the client shine."
Reputation Changer was developed in 2009 by a team of direct response marketing professionals. The company quickly grew into the world's leading online reputation management and monitoring service; today, Reputation Changer provides an array of services in brand enhancement and negative listing suppression, to a client base that includes Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, and individuals. | <urn:uuid:e24988a7-5c64-4e55-ada7-4aa5c0f26cb3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/reputation-changer-complaints-negative-reviews-have-dire-consequences-business-brands-1745110.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966155 | 826 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Excellent article. You touched on it briefly when you referred to the "INNER JOIN equivalent," but it should be made clear that referencing a column from the right table in the WHERE clause does not literally change the LEFT JOIN to an INNER... it simply makes it appear to behave like one.
Since NULL comparisons always return false, the query is behaving exactly as one would expect a LEFT JOIN with a WHERE clause to behave. We have written the query incorrectly in regards to our intent, but it hasn't formally become an INNER JOIN simply because the result sets look the same.
This can be illustrated by changing the WHERE clause in your second query to...
WHERE ISNULL(OH.TotalDue, 5001) > 5000
If the JOIN is now literally an INNER, we should not see different results from your second example, as we are now INNER JOINing ON C.CustomerID = OH.CustomerID. But instead we get the same results as the third example, indicating that the join is still a LEFT; we've simply corrected the error in the WHERE clause.
All that being said, this is still very poor practice and all db developers should know to avoid it. So I'm not disagreeing with you at all, just offering a technical clarification.
commented on Mar 30 2010 7:53AM | <urn:uuid:feb9a8b8-986f-4c69-9c3f-e637943ae314> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://beyondrelational.com/modules/2/blogs/78/posts/11135/why-left-join-doesnt-bring-all-records-from-the-left-table.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943078 | 280 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Simply scan through the TV channels and you are bound to come across a news show or commercial touting the benefits of organic food. How about organic clothing?
Many companies are now offering organic clothing options. But some take it further than others. I am so impressed with a company called EDUN.
EDUN’s mission is to drive sustainable employment in developing economies. The company was founded in 2005 by Ali Hewson and Bono. Their socially conscious clothing company uses organic materials whenever possible. From the African sourced cotton, to the spinning and knitting process, all the way to the manufacturer, edun Live’s t-shirts are 100% African. The end result is a superior product whose very production provides sustainable employment, business and trade opportunities for the impoverished in sub-Saharan Africa.
Edun Live offers reasonably priced mens (#M7001), womens (W7002), youth (K7003) and even toddler (K7000) sized t-shirts.
Examples of other brands that include t-shirts as well as other options include Anvil, Bella, LAT Sportswear and Rabbit Skins. Below is a list of a few of the organic items that you will find at Shoppers Rule:
Bella has a variety of items, from an organic baby creeper (#104B), to ladies’ tanks (#4020B), and t-shirts (#6020). LAT Sportswear offers short and long sleeve t-shirts (#2080 & 2088). Anvil has adult and youth organic t-shirts (#420, 428, and 420B). Rabbit Skins offers infant and toddler items (RS2000, RS2001, & RS2004).
Choosing organic food and clothing is a great way to help keep both our bodies and our earth healthy.
I love making gifts for Christmas. At the moment, I am finishing up a 2009 calendar inspired by the Calendar Kids book (#MB809) by Marcia L. Layton. Using the hands and feet of my son and his second grade classmates, we have created a one-of-a-kind Christmas gift for the teacher.
However, the calendar has taken a bit longer than I planned. And there is still my daughter’s teacher, my mother-in-law, and my sister-in-laws to think about….. I need some fast and easy ideas.
Hey, wait! There is a “Fast, Fun & Easy” book series from C&T Publishing. There are over a dozen books. I’ve listed a few of them below.
Fast, Fun, & Easy Fabric Bowls (#CT10349) – this one is on my bookshelf – I’ve just decided that my daughter’s teacher is getting a bowl filled with fruit and nuts.
Incredible Thread-A-Bowls (#CT-FFEITB)
Fabric Boxes (CT-FFEBOX)
Creative Fabric Clocks (#8267B) – I’ve been wanting to try this one, maybe everyone else will get a clock.
Fabric Flowers (#CT10423)
Home Accents (#CT10430)
Now, I’m on a roll. I’ve got plenty to think about and hopefully you do too. | <urn:uuid:5cf5d95d-d333-4cf7-b5b6-74e1ecb610a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.shoppersrule.com/?m=200811 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932156 | 683 | 1.804688 | 2 |
|Background: The Morroco blasts some time ago, multiple, simultaneous attacks. One attacker walked into a Jewish cemetary and detonated himself.
In the news today (and I believe I saw it yesteray as well!) plans were found in the apartment in Madrid where the trapped terrorists detonated themselves that indicated attacks to be forthcoming on "Jewish sites and cemetaries".
Y'all know me. I'm not trying to inflame anyone or hurt any feelings - I really want to understand: What significance is there to abdullah the meatbomber blowing himself up in a Jewish cemetary???
I recall something, though it's in the New Testament, reference Judaism and burial (after Christ was crucified, he needed to be taken down and buried quickly) in reference to sunset and the Sabbath??
Can someone with some knowledge on this topic please expand on this subject:
The question, refined is: What would "terrorize" anyone if abdullah the meatbomber kills himself on Jewish Hallowed Ground (cemetary in particular)? | <urn:uuid:9b2397c7-4215-4bae-a2bf-c553b4dec252> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://strategypage.com/militaryforums/93-4556.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960861 | 218 | 1.5625 | 2 |
captainplanit: What’s stopping women from cycling? We must plan our cycling infrastructure for everyone. Women’s voices, like those of children, the elderly, and the disabled are rarely listened to, and that needs to change. Cycling should be open to everyone… not just in theory, but in practical design of the infrastructure to support it. I often try to explain to the biking community here in...
CITY BREATHS: Definition of a City #3 →
citybreaths: ©Aqui-ali “A city is a place where there is no need to wait for next week to get the answer to a question, to taste the food of any country, to find new voices to listen to and familiar ones to listen to again.” - Margaret Mead This is part of a series of definitions of cities…
Most Americans Want a Walkable Neighborhood, Not a... →
leesill: The symbol of American success often involves having the biggest house possible, but our outsized fantasies seem to be shifting. According to a new survey, more than three quarters of us consider having sidewalks and places to take a walk one of our top priorities when deciding where to live. Six in 10 people also said they would sacrifice a bigger house to live in a neighborhood that... | <urn:uuid:0307bd21-88cb-45ca-92be-26d757f92e32> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://postandlintel.tumblr.com/archive/2012/3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94671 | 267 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Power Searching with Google
I recently enrolled in a course called “Power Searching with Google that was provided by Google to help Google users become stronger in using search. The course was hosted by Daniel Russell Senior Research Scientist, Google, Inc.
I think I was among the initial enrollment class for this course, and overall I’d say if Google does roll this course out again it is well worth your time to enroll and to see it through to the end.
If there is one metric by which to measure the success or failure of this course, it would have to be that after taking the course I am more rather than less excited about using Google search to help me in my own business and life journey.
About the Course
The entire course is broken out into six classes, each of which have a number of modules (usually 5 or 6).
Further, within each module there is:
- A video hosted by Dan, outlining a specific item
- An activity that allows students to re-enforce the subject of that particular module by doing
- A link pointing to additional materials/discussion on a dedicated classroom forum
In addition there was a mid-class assessment test and a final class assessment test, both of which were scored. Provided students reached a specific cumulative score, they were then awarded certificates of completion.
The course also required that students complete both the mid-class assessment and the final by specific dates in order to officially “pass.”
This entire course is very focused on learning by doing. This process was outlined in detail in one of the introductory modules. Going beyond straight learning, what was interesting about the process was that Google made a direct effort to communicate with users – something that is typically a bit more mysterious.
Going further, the class also hosted a few “hangouts” where students were allowed to ask direct questions and also where we, the users were provided with a few insights into how Google “thinks.”
The videos are very straight forward and well told, but the real activity happens inside of the activity sections where students are actively implementing the learning.
A Better Searching Framework
The course is really focused on trying to provide Google search users with a framework for how to better search.
Going further than simply showing users how to more effectively search, the Google team also encourages users to not simply trust a result only on the basis of showing up at the top. In fact there is an entire class dedicated to “checking your facts.”
In addition there is a nice emphasis placed on utilizing multiple search methodologies in order to fully realize the search answer you are looking for.
The course does a nice job of introducing a number of interesting search concepts. In particular the course does a great job of exposing students to the power of using image results in search.
Students are also introduced to a number of search operators that can further assist in search. Perhaps subsequent versions of the course will delve a bit further into this area as they really only scrape the tip of the iceberg here in terms of showing how powerful many of these operators can be.
The course also does a great job of outlining a wide array of other features within Google search including date searches, searching within specific categories (Books, Patents, Blogs and News for example), localized search, translated search and going further to search by country results but only offering translated results, and of course utilizing Google to access information quickly – things like the weather, movie screenings, currency as well as some really nice uses for Google Maps and how to ground these nice uses into everyday living.
Should You Take This Course?
Short answer is yes. Even if you consider yourself to be pretty strong in Google Search you will learn plenty.
Of course, if as you were reading the “Course Details” and you found yourself saying I had no idea Google Search did those things, then I’d say run rather than walk.
If you consider how many times we all head over to Google.com to search for things, and how much more often we will continue to search for things as Google, and other search engines get even “smarter” the lifetime value for this course is hard to qualify. But let’s safely say that if you can more efficiently search, and over your lifetime you are going to continue to use a search engine to help find information, and you conduct on average 1 search every day… The lifetime return is huge!
How Much Does this Cost?
Free. Thanks Google!
When can I sign up for this course?
I’m not sure when/if Google will run this course again, but hopefully even if they elect to not run it again, they will continue to allow the link to the classroom to stay live so that new students can learn at their own pace.
In addition to being very informative, another aspect that I really appreciated was the course did a great job of putting a human face to search. Dan Taylor did a very nice job of showcasing how committed Google is to really finding results that people really providing users with results that they want.
The humanizing experience was also further expanded on by the forums, which were heavily monitored by many Google Search moderators as well as the hangouts.
Yep. I took the course all the way through, and I’m happy to say I passed. Here is my certificate. : )
Thanks again Google – job well done! | <urn:uuid:551dd456-9589-4ba0-add9-7bf665a3e916> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gadarian.com/power-searching-with-google-review/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969558 | 1,118 | 1.671875 | 2 |
In the March/April print edition of Foreign Affairs, Michael Cohen and I coauthored an essay challenging the prevailing rhetoric of Washington-centric threat inflation, “Clear and Present Safety: The United States Is More Secure than Washington Thinks.” We argue that the world today is one with fewer violent conflicts, increased political freedom, and greater economic opportunity than at virtually any other point in human history.
Since we published our essay, U.S. policymakers have continued to serve up a smorgasbord of exaggerated and overblown threats. Yesterday, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey—who believes that the United States faces more danger today than at any other point since 1974—described a “quilt or mosaic of threats” (think “insecurity blanket”), in which cyberwar “could be the most catastrophic.” (His statement follows just weeks after the full extent of the joint U.S.-Israeli offensive cyber attacks against Iran’s centrifuge program were revealed.) Last month, Senator Lindsay Graham referred to Iran as “an existential threat we face from a rogue regime.” Finally, on Memorial Day, presidential candidate Mitt Romney lamented: “I wish I could tell you that the world is a safe place today. It’s not.”
Despite widespread bipartisan agreement—a rarity in this day and age—this conventional wisdom is wrong. For instance, earlier this month the National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC) released its 2011 Report on Terrorism, which offers best statistics on terrorism trends, or “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents.” Two highlights from the NCTC report:
“The total number of worldwide attacks in 2011, however, dropped by almost 12 percent from 2010 and nearly 29 percent from 2007.”
Of 13,288 people killed by terrorist attacks last year, 17 were private U.S. citizens, or .1 percent.
As I’ve pointed out—and cited by Stephen Colbert last week in a “ThreatDown” segment—a comparable number of Americans are crushed to death by their televisions or furniture each year. Even Michael Sheehan, assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low intensity conflict, recently revealed, “Al-Qaida wasn’t as good as we thought they were on 9/11.”
The blogosphere churned out dozens of responses and mentions of our Foreign Affairs piece, including a valuable criticism by Paul D. Miller published, along with our response, in the current edition of Foreign Affairs. (You have to register in order to read the piece, but it’s free!) Miller writes:
“There are major challenges to the global order that endanger U.S. national security…nuclear-armed autocracies, the spread of failed states and the rogue actors who operate from within them, and a global Islamist insurgency.”
In response, Cohen and I note that the purported threats articulated by Miller are, in fact, a strong corroboration of our argument that politicians, government officials, military leaders, and national security experts regularly exaggerate threats facing the United States. At the same time, we contend that Miller underestimates Washington’s ability to respond to such threats, specifically:
“The United States has unmatched intelligence and analytic capabilities and some of the world’s best diplomats. Its defense budget is larger than those of the next 14 countries combined and supports over 2,000 operationally deployed nuclear weapons; an air force of some 4,000 aircraft; a navy with 285 ships, including 11 carrier strike groups; and 770,000 active-duty soldiers and marines. Even if this budget is reduced by eight percent over the coming decade, as Congress agreed it would be as part of the 2011 debt-limit agreement, the men and women who protect the country and its interests will still be able to meet the challenges that may come their way.”
We welcome additional thoughts and criticisms of our Clear and Present Safety thesis. And as we enter the presidential campaign season, be on the lookout for those who practice threat inflation as foreign policy analysis. | <urn:uuid:f339c734-858b-4bf5-a8ed-36f42c7a6893> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.cfr.org/zenko/2012/06/27/washingtons-chronic-threat-inflation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951036 | 868 | 1.71875 | 2 |
One effective strategy for easing PMS symptoms (fatigue, mood swings and bloating) is to eat a healthy breakfast. Recent studies found that women who skipped their morning meals suffered from more intense PMS because skipping breakfast disrupts hormonal balance; eating in the morning helps ease milder symptoms within a few days. It's also beneficial to take calcium and magnesium supplements. Both can help reduce bloat and other PMS symptoms by 50 % within three menstrual cycles. And for safe measure, avoid caffeine and carbonated drinks; instead, drink plenty of water, which eases bloat by optimizing kidney function.
9 hours ago | <urn:uuid:a40312cf-8713-44d1-86d4-ec8b7b2dfbe3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://liz.mommyslittlecorner.com/2013/01/did-you-know.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952036 | 126 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Demons are real and demons can even afflict Christians. Though some might debate one or both of these statements, Whyte is convinced that the Bible and his own experiences have both proven each statement to be true. And if he is right, it raises a lot of important questions about demons and how they affect us. He wrote this book as a practical handbook to answer some of those questions.
Whyte begins by discussing our authority in Christ, and gives examples of how that authority has come forth in deliverance. He offers valuable information about how deliverance is accomplished, and what its impact on believers can be. Then Whyte looks at several distinct types of demonic personalities which he has encountered, and which are likely to be encountered by other believers. He discusses how Christians can protect themselves during deliverance ministry, and how to ensure that deliverance is final and lasting. His emphasis throughout the book is the freedom that is available to Christians through the blood of Christ.
But what really sets this book apart is its extensive question and answer section. Whyte looks to the Bible and his experiences to answer questions about the nature of deliverance, how demons can impact and affect believers, different types of demons, how to enact a deliverance ministry, and even some common objections which are raised against deliverance ministry. Examples of questions include: What exactly is a demon? How does a person come under demonic influence? Can we inherit demons from our anscestors? Can a Christian be possessed by a demon? How can Christians resist the powers of darkness? Can anybody cast out a demon? Are there dangers inherent in deliverance ministry? and many others.
Eminently practical, and thoroughly scriptural, this book will likely become a standard for deliverance ministries. If you are skeptical about demonic activity in our contemporary world, this book may change your mind. If you are convinced about the activity of demons in our time, this book will help to motivate you to take your place in this important spiritual battle. Its emphasis on our authority in Christ is a timely reminder of the power and promise of God with us. You too can be a part of this battle, and help to free people from the tryanny and cruelty of the demonic.
Customer Questions & Answers: | <urn:uuid:636d0508-ab53-4f89-b633-25fed83ef9c5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://answers.christianbook.com/answers/2016/product/82168/whitaker-house-publishers-demons-and-deliverance-previously-titled-casting-out-demons-questions-answers/questions.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967977 | 457 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Who operates those weird "numbers stations" on shortwave radio?
While scanning the shortwave radio bands recently, I discovered a station broadcasting five-digit numbers in Spanish. Each number was repeated twice before a new one was broadcast. It was a little strange, but I figured I had stumbled onto the Cuban Lotto numbers station.
Then last night I picked up a similar broadcast in English. It lasted about 25 minutes, then ended abruptly. A fellow shortwave enthusiast says these "numbers stations" are a big mystery and may somehow be tied into the CIA or drug smuggling!
The FCC and CIA were no help, so I turn to you.
It's spies, likely.
There are dozens of "numbers stations," some of which have been in business for decades. Yet no government or private agency has ever acknowledged them.
The stations broadcast in a variety of formats (three, four, and five digits, etc.) in languages ranging from English and Spanish to Czech, Korean, and Serbo-Croatian. The voice is often female and its unchanging inflection suggests that it may be machine-generated, like those wrong-number recordings used by the phone company.
At least some of the numbers stations are broadcasting coded messages. The messages have a definite beginning and end, start with an indication of how many number groups the message will contain, repeat each group carefully, and use standard-sized code groups (i.e., four or five digits), a universal feature of modern cryptography.
David Wise's book The Spy Who Got Away (1988), about a CIA defector, offers the following insight into how the codes (or at least some of them) work:
"A former CIA case officer with long experience in Moscow explained that … 'a transmitter is set up in Germany or even at [CIA] headquarters in Langley [Virginia]. The agent knows that at certain times on certain nights you will transmit to him, normally in five digit code groups. He is given a [one- time pad, or OTP], of which only one other copy exists, which the sender has.'
"The pages of a one-time pad consist of different, random five- digit groups of numbers that are used to encipher messages with the aid of a matrix, or number grid, that can be read much like the coordinates of a road map.
"Each page is destroyed after use. Since only one other copy of the pad exists, the code is unbreakable. The agent uses his copy of the one-time pad to decipher the message.
"The old Moscow hand explained what happens next. 'The OTP is on edible paper. Once he deciphers the message, he tears the pages out, burns them, flushes them down the toilet, or eats them — however he's been instructed. You can use [this] voice link to confirm or change a meeting.'
"He paused and smiled. 'Sometimes we would broadcast code groups just to make the Soviets think we had a lot of assets even if we didn't.'"
Interestingly, the volume of coded message traffic doesn't seem to have dropped appreciably with the end of the Cold War. I suppose that only makes sense. Even if you were running fewer spies than you used to, you'd keep the code numbers booming out at the same rate so as not to clue the bad guys should you have the need to expand your agent roster in the future.
It's reasonable to assume other folks besides the CIA are broadcasting code groups, too. But nobody will say publicly:
(1) exactly who's doing it;
(2) whether private parties are involved (some suspect drug traffickers because so many messages are in Spanish);
(3) where the stations are located (because of atmospheric reflection, direction-finding is difficult);
(4) how many of the messages are real and how many are dummies intended to lull eavesdroppers;
(5) who the intended recipients are (they can't ALL be Cuban agents in the U.S.); and, of course,
(6) what the messages say.
Clearly the time has come for a courageous subset of the Teeming Millions to get jobs with the world's national security agencies, find out the whole story, and then clue us in. (I'd do it, but I'm tied up this week.)
If they catch you, of course, you'll probably get the chair, but hey, can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs. For more details on number stations, see Big Secrets by William Poundstone (1983). | <urn:uuid:035e0898-c97b-4eab-b4d0-75e58faed5f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/800/who-operates-those-weird-numbers-stations-on-shortwave-radio | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953989 | 944 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Voice heard 'round the world.
SHANNON: Why do you think 100 million people on YouTube/internet viewed Susan Boyle’s audition on Britain's Got Talent?
SEAN: Comments from the judges like, “Reeling from shock... Biggest wake-up call ever... A complete privilege... Extraordinary,” demand a bigger, more precise and important question: ‘Why were most of us immediately brought to tears by her performance? - And not tears of sadness or joy, but of relief and amazement’. At the same time scrutiny of the very dark hour our world faces stays mostly quiet - Palestinian babies exploding daily, Pakistan villages smart bombed, Dyncorp and Halliburton sex slave trade scandals, Iraqi torture camps, skyrocketing unemployment, home invasion and seizures by the banksters, food shortages, vaccine induced autism - we are compelled, trained to rush cynically with judgment and insults at the sight of a middle-aged single women with short disorderly hair, frizzy eyebrows and bulky awkward proportions. As certainly as spilled wine will attract pests is as undoubtedly as this dumply shy lady of an inconsequential village would attract rolling eyes and cruel, teasing laughter from the awaiting audience. But Susan stood down the crowd’s predetermined ridicule with a ‘cheeky grin’. She knew better. She had a gift to share. Her secure, ardent, 'smashing' voice hits the microphone and tears stream our faces because we are both relieved and amazed to find our programming was wrong. Innocence isn’t ugly. ... If Susan’s performance wasn’t a touch from God, an angel reminding us all that the voice within is right, that life isn’t a beauty pageant, life is instead a pageant of beauty, all of us blessed, then why did it feel that way? 100 million watched to hear God answer our desperate prayers during these jagged corrupt times, begging for a guardian spirit, a guiding influence, a healing messenger, an angel of mercy. Thank you God for your grace! May we recognize it! May we never again judge religious, political, social, ethnic, cosmetic, and class differences with unwarranted taunts, bullets and cancer shots! May we have the strength to seek conscious change over conformity! May our silent prayers of dissent against tyranny become acts of civil disobedience!
SHANNON: Indeed! The shock of Susan’s voice melted away many layers of joust in me to find rivers of awe. What a triumph! She endured a less than opportune life to send one heavenly cheer to all of us. Bless her!
“Just before she (Susan Boyle) launched into I Dreamed a Dream, the 3000-strong audience in Glasgow was laughing and the three judges were suppressing chuckles.” - Piers Morgan, Britain’s Got Talent Judge
“Modern society is too quick to judge people on their appearances. ... There is not much you can do about it; it is the way they think; it is the way they are. But maybe this could teach them a lesson, or set an example.” - Susan Boyle, The Washington Post
“Reality is an illusion, albeit a persistent one.” - Albert Einstein
“If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers.” - Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow
“Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed. He who molds opinion is greater than he who enacts laws.” - Abraham Lincoln
“If we understand the mechanisms and motives of the group mind, it is now possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing it... In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons ... who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.” - Edward Louis Bernays
“I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high,
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving.
Then I was young and unafraid
When dreams were made and used,
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung,
No wine untasted.
But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hopes apart
As they turn your dreams to shame.
And still I dream he'll come to me
And we will live our lives together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms
We cannot weather...
I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seems
Now life has killed
The dream I dreamed.”
- I dreamed a dream, Les Miserables.
A homely-looking woman who wow-ed Simon Cowell on Britain's Got Talent with her jaw-dropping performance of "I dreamed a dream" from Les Mis
Did you see that Susan Boyle has over 40 million hits on youtube?
Noun: An ordinary person. Generic for any average female. Could be anyone. Could be you.
Well, this regular Susan Boyle walked right up on stage, and she rocked it like Mick Jagger!
A code word used among the females for their period.
Can also be used for feminine care products, such as pads or tampons.
Amanda: *runs into the bathroom screaming*
Sasha: "Oh she's got her Susan Boyle."
-Amanda comes back from bathroom, looking helpless-
Sasha: "Do you need a Susan Boyle?"
a half-eaten sausage
a susan boyle is a half-eaten sausage
verb; when one's first judgement is proven completely opposite
Bobby: "Wow, that cake looks like crap... holy god it's good!"
Freddy: "Threw a bit of a Susan Boyle, didn't it?"
The moment of confusion upon facing an individual that appears to be man or woman.
Melanie: "Hey Seth come watch this video! this woman is amazing"
Seth: "Let's see!"
Melanie *plays video of Susan Boyle's audition* "Her voice is so lovely."
Seth: *quite perplexed but continues watching* "Hey Mel is that a man?"
Melanie: *turns up volume* "Shhh! this is the best part"
Seth: *confused* "He's wearing heels? Mel, that's a man right?"
Melanie: "Are you kidding? That's Susan Boyle, she's has a wonderful voice"
Seth: *under his breath* "Damn she is ugly" | <urn:uuid:26dec7d7-0afb-41ef-b25e-57356c81f6d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Susan%20Boyle&defid=3967329 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9385 | 1,448 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Trainers work on Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III (10) on the bench after being injured against the Atlanta Falcons in the third quarter at FedEx Field. / Geoff Burke, US Presswire
Somewhere in between the Washington Redskins recognizing that Robert Griffin III received a concussion on Sunday and the correct decision to keep him out of the rest of the game, it somehow got twisted that the team had erred in their handling of the rookie quarterback's brain injury.
The team was criticized for giving an in-game status update that said Griffin was "shaken up."
Then head coach Mike Shanahan took heat after the game when he said Griffin had a "mild concussion."
"When he really wasn't sure what quarter it was, what score it was, we knew he had a mild concussion, at least according to the doctors," Shanahan said after the game.
Take it away, peanut gallery:
"Oh, he didn't know what was going on? Just a little shaky! Shanahan's a classic smashmouth FOOTBALL coach, and it's hardly a surprise to hear him talk about a concussed Griffin like there was any chance he could've gone back in the game. But this is the battle the NFL has to fight as it continues to try and improve player safety."
"In using that term, Shanahan is doing his superstar rookie quarterback a disservice. And in allowing teams to use phrases like "mild concussion" or "neck injury" to describe what are obvious injuries to a player's head, the NFL is doing a disservice to player safety.Concussions aren't chicken wing flavors. Calling something a "mild concussion" is like telling someone that your wife is "kind of pregnant." A concussion is, medically speaking, known as TBI. That stands for Traumatic Brain Injury. Not mild brain injury, spicy brain injury or Caribbean jerk brain injury. Traumatic brain injury."
"The term "mild" concussion may be more descriptive than "shaken up," which was how the Redskins initially described Griffin, but with the NFL's emphasis on protecting players from head injuries, it's probably better for coaches not to refer to any concussions as 'mild.'"
It's time to kill the term "mild concussion." It's only mild if someone else suffers it. Apart from being medically inaccurate, the term downplays the severity of suffering a concussion. It basically is an update of the outdated terms "bell rung" or "shaken up."
Oh, Internet, you never fail to disappoint when bloggers try to out-earnest each other.
There are only two ways to deal with a concussion: the right way and the wrong way. RGIII didn't play another snap on Sunday. The Redskins did it properly.
So what's the issue? Shanahan's word choice in diagnosing his quarterback? Did the football media suddenly turn into MDs and English professors? Are we all so concussion sensitive that we can't accept all brain injuries aren't created equal? I can Google "CDC mild concussion" and read the same report everybody else did. What I read is that the severity of concussions can vary, the same as heart attacks, strokes and forms of cancer. Assuming the concussion was not on the severe side, why is it a disservice to say that? We need more awareness about concussions. Lumping all of them together is a terrible way to do that.
The NFL is looking into the Redskins' injury reporting because the NFL has been a great champion of concussion awareness for the past five minutes. What better way to make up for a half-century of looking the other way than hitting a team for using an adjective.
Late Sunday, Griffin tweeted he was okay and would likely play next week after concussion tests. I suppose we should get mad at him for not treating his injury seriously enough.
Copyright 2013 USATODAY.com
Read the original story: Did the Redskins handle RGIII's concussion properly? | <urn:uuid:73c0fbca-500a-458f-b129-53b0e9b976cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/usatoday/article/1619043&usatref=sportsmod?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7C%7Cp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978192 | 813 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Time runs short to avert longshoremen’s strike
NEW YORK (AP) – In just a few days, a walkout by thousands of dock workers could bring commerce to a near standstill at every major port from Boston to Houston, potentially delivering a big blow to retailers and manufacturers still struggling to find their footing in a weak economy.
More than 14,000 longshoremen are threating to go on strike Sunday – a wide-ranging work stoppage that would immediately close cargo ports on the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico to container ships.
The 15 ports involved in the labor dispute move more than 100 million tons of goods each year, or about 40 percent of the nation’s containerized cargo traffic. Losing them to a shutdown, even for a few days, could cost the economy billions of dollars.
“If the port shuts down, nothing moves in or out,” said Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation. And when the workers do return, “it’s going to take time to clear out that backlog, and we don’t know how long that it’s going to take.” SOURCE
Once upon a time, MANY years ago, labor unions may have been a necessary thing, jobs paid very little, working conditions were horrible and the bosses were more like slave drivers than management, but those days are ancient history.
I am NOT, nor have I ever been a member of ANY union, and I know the old adage about ‘never say never’, but I NEVER will be a member of a labor union. I believe that unions have long outlived their usefulness and are nothing more than a branch of organized crime that has no compunction with using ANY means, up to and including physical violence and murder, to accomplish their agenda.
Historically, violence and labor unions go hand in hand. Here are a few examples of union violence. SOURCE:
1986 – During protests by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1547 against a non-unionized workforce getting a contract, picketers threatened and assaulted workers, spat at them, sabotaged equipment, and shot guns near workers. In 1999, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that the union had engaged in “ongoing acts of intimidation, violence, destruction of property”, awarding the plaintiff $212,500 in punitive damages.
1990 – on the first day of The New York Daily News strike, delivery trucks were attacked with stones and sticks, and in some cases burned, with the drivers beaten. Strikers then started threatening newsstands with arson, or stole all copies of the Daily News and burned them in front of the newsstands. James Hoge, publisher of the Daily News, alleged that there had been some 700 serious acts of violence. The New York Police Department claimed knowledge of 229 incidents of violence. Criminal charges under the Hobbs Act were declined, however, citing the aforementioned Enmons case.
1993 – Eddie York was murdered for crossing a United Mine Workers (UMW) picket line at a coal mine in Logan County, West Virginia, on July 22, 1993. Like the 1990 NY Daily News strike, criminal charges under the Hobbs Act were declined, with the FBI and Justice Department citing the Enmons case.
1997 – On August 7, 1997, teamsters Orestes Espinosa, Angel Mielgo, Werner Haechler, Benigno Rojas, and Adrian Paez beat, kicked, and stabbed a UPS worker (Rod Carter) who refused to strike, after Carter received a threatening phone call from the home of Anthony Cannestro, Sr., president of Teamsters Local 769.
2011 – It was reported on September 9, 2011 that members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) frightened security guards, dumped grain, and vandalized property belonging to EGT, LLC, over a labor dispute. No one was hurt, and no one had been arrested at the time the incident was reported. District Judge Ronald Leighton later issued a preliminary injunction against the ILWU citing their reported behavior.
2012 – Union workers protesting right-to-work legislation in Lansing, Michigan destroyed a tent run by Americans for Prosperity. People were inside the tent but managed to escape before the collapse. Additionally, hot dog stand operator Clinton Tarver, a popular vendor around the Capital area who was hired to provide catering for AFP, lost his equipment, condiments, coolers, and food in the collapse. According to Tarver (an African American), union workers, who had incorrectly assumed he was supporting AFP, called Tarver an “Uncle Tom nigger”. A union worker also punched conservative comedian and Fox News contributor Stephen Crowder, resulting in a chipped tooth and a minor cut on the forehead. Another worker threatened to kill Crowder with a gun.
Know this; a huge dockworkers strike WILL be violent and with the United States facing a *fiscal cliff* and massive challenges in the world markets, this potential strike could be the catalyst the Obama regime is looking for in an effort to declare martial law.
A spark is all it will take, ANY excuse will suffice and Obama has strong Union support from the likes of the Teamsters, SEIU and many others.
Labor unions, and their members, embrace Socialism. It’s not just me that believes that either. Read this: Unions: The History of Their Socialist Agenda — Their hand in hand socialist march with the Democrat party in American History.
If you’re still a PRO Union believer at this point I am guessing I am on your LIST of right-wing Conservatives that you would like to take out back and *tune up*.
12/28/2012 – Edit to add @ 11:16:05: Deal struck to delay potential port strike – Houston Chronicle | <urn:uuid:4917ff57-2d64-41b0-8efb-cc81b74ae7ca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.texasfred.net/archives/19510 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960782 | 1,214 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Welcome to Blood Week. We put out the call on Friday for your tales of of blood, violence, gruesome injuries, near-death experiences, mayhem, and blood. Many of you came through with submissions, which we'll be posting throughout the week. If you have a story and/or photos to share, email [email protected], with Blood Week in the subject line.
Here's Daniel with an answer to an important medical question:
So, I play rugby for a club in Dallas and we were on the road for one of our away games in Austin. Austin is always a solid road trip and typically an awesome night of blacking out after the match. Needless to say, things to be excited about.
So game starts and things are going pretty well. Just having fun enjoying a great day and playing some rugby. Things are going well we score and go up by a try and they kick back off about 10 minutes in. One of our guys receive the ball and get tackled immediately and I step over him (ruck in rugby) to secure the ball. All of a sudden a see a flash of elbow flying at my face. Instantaneous stars, I hear a crack, and blood was pouring everywhere out of my nose and mouth. This is not typical in rugby; most people don't take cheap shots so you don't expect it. Being kind of in a daze after rolling around I get up and tell our captain (a pink haired Aussie), "I broke my face." We have to figure something out, since we have zero subs. He responds, "Mate, you can't break your face, and there's nobody. It's just a shiner, no doctor will ever tell you you've broken your face." So I say screw it and just keep playing the match for another 70 minutes. Every time I tackle, get tackled, or take a step I can hear bone crunching around and receive a new supply of blood in my throat. It didn't swell at all during the game but it was constant pain. If I've ever felt pure misery that was it. There worst part was that there obviously would not be any mayhem for me after the match.
So instead of the intelligent thing and going to the hospital there I drive back to Dallas and my face blows up so much it looks like I have a women's basketball in my cheek. I go to a small ER center to get checked out, and the doctor takes X-rays/MRI and walks back in and says, "You broke your face." So it is possible to break your face, at least in medical terminology. Oh and we lost the game. Worst day of losing ever. | <urn:uuid:8f239e4c-3f3d-4687-8f95-cac3d6f244ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://deadspin.com/5880899/blood-writes-whats-the-medical-term-for-a-broken-face?tag=rugby | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976335 | 548 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg recently made comments on the Roe v. Wade decision that has some pro-life and pro-traditional marriage advocates optimistic about the possible ruling coming later this summer from the court. It’s reported that Ginsburg said: ”Ginsburg addressed the historic decision during a speech at the University of Chicago law school. By ruling that abortion was legal, the Supreme Court cut off a political debate in the states that was trending toward broader access to abortion.Interrupting a more democratic movement, Ginsburg said, gave abortion-rights opponents a single ‘target’ for the next 40 years.”
If Ginsburg is so critical of the court for ruling in such a way that removed the debate from the hands of the people and the states, it is entirely possible that she will hold the same view in ruling on the marriage cases currently being considered by the court. If Ginsburg feels this way about the ruling it is also entirely possible that swing vote Justice Kennedy will side with Ginsburg and the other conservative justices in what could be a landslide decision for marriage. Of course, this is all speculation and we will have to wait until later this summer to see what actually transpires. But Justice Ginsburg’s comments have left many nonetheless optimistic. Click here for original article.
About Nathan Cherry
Nathan Cherry is the chief editor and blogger for the Engage Family Minute blog, the official blog of the FPCWV. He serves also as the Regional Development Coordinator as a liaison to the pastor's of West Virginia. He is a pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, pro-religious freedom conservative. He is also a husband, father, pastor, author, musician, and follower of Jesus Christ. | <urn:uuid:7540deef-f1e5-4f54-b873-adfe975b713c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://engagefamilyminute.com/tag/roe/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959909 | 356 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Here are some useful tips on how to begin to build a Teacher In-Service Program (TISP) in your section.
There are many different ways members can volunteer in your section’s TISP. Members can volunteer to lead teacher in-service presentations individually or in small teams. For those members who want to participate but don’t feel comfortable in the spotlight, you can assist with the development of the in-service content, coordination of the in-service, gathering of materials, or even serve as an extra set of hands at the in-service.
Suggestions to obtain volunteer involvement include:
When selecting a presentation topic, you may want to choose topics that are:
The following web and print resources are also very useful in generating ideas for topics:
When you make contact with school personnel here are some things you may want to discuss:
Once you have commitment from the school to conduct the in-service, you will need to discuss the following: | <urn:uuid:04f8d61d-a79b-4c62-bbac-aa08837f4dd7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ieee.org/education_careers/education/preuniversity/tispt/begin.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94727 | 201 | 1.546875 | 2 |
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